Empire of Civil Society -- A Critique of Realist International Relations Theory

Author: Justin Rosenberg (United Kingdom), translated by Hong Yousheng
Translator: Hong Yousheng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-10-01
Features: If empire is understood as political control that expands beyond the original territory of a community to increase resources from the outside, then it ultimately signifies the end of the empire. On the other hand, it means that the exercise of state power—just like the exercise of domestic social power—has two interconnected aspects: one focuses on the public political aspect of managing the state system, and the other focuses on the human political aspect of managing the state system. It signifies a new kind of empire—the rise of the empire of civil society. The persuasiveness of the arguments in this book largely owes to the criticism, encouragement, and suggestions of others. Chapter was published in the Review of International Studies (Volume 16, Issue 4, 1990) under the title "What's Wrong with Realism?"; the content of Chapter 3 is a slightly revised version of the article "The Mysterious Origins of the State: The Structural Basis of State Interests," which was published in the Review of International Studies (Volume 18, Issue 2, 1992); and part of the content of Chapter 5 was submitted to the annual conference of the Political Science Association held at Queen's University Belfast in 1992.