1st Edition

The Study of World Politics Volume 1: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges

By James N Rosenau Copyright 2006
    316 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Study of World Politics is two volume set that presents thirty-nine essays of some two hundred essays authored by Professor James Rosenau, a renowned international political theorist. They include both articles recently published and those that have not previously been published. All of them focus on the theme of the study of world politics, with the twenty-three articles in this volume devoted to probing theoretical and methodological challenges.

    This volume is divided into five parts and address such issues as:

    • the challenge of world politics 
    • the professional political scientist
    • methods
    • concepts and theories
    • the analysis of foreign policy.

    Included in this collection is perhaps James Rosenau’s most widely-read essay, ‘Pre-Theories and Theories of Foreign Policy’ as well as several essays that articulate various dimensions of global governance and how they are shaped by the dynamics of globalization. These articles are marked by unique and imaginative formulations which break with a number of conventional approaches employed in the fields of international relations and foreign policy.

    The Study of World Politics provides the reader with access for the first time to a collection of James Rosenau’s outstanding scholarship, making this an invaluable book to students and academics with interests in politics.

    1. Introduction  Part 1: The Challenge  2. The Future of Politics  3. Building Blocks of a New Paradigm for Studying World Politics  4. Rigid Boundaries: States, Societies, and International Relations  5. Powerful Tendencies, Startling Discrepancies, and Elusive Dynamics: The Challenge of Studying World Politics in a Turbulent Era  6. Political Science and Political Processes: Narrowing the Gap?  Part 2: The Professional  7. The Birth of a Political Scientist  8. Intellectual Identity and the Study of International Relations, or Coming to Terms With Mathematics as a Tool of Inquiry  9. (with Ersel Aydinli) Courage versus Caution: A Dialogue on Entering and Prospering in IR  Part 3: Methods  10. Comparison Is a State of Mind  11. CFP and IPE: The Anomaly of Mutual Boredom  Part 4: Concepts and Theories  12. The Theoretical Imperative: Unavoidable Explication  13. Many Damn Things Simultaneously - At Least for Awhile: Complexity Theory and World Affairs  14. Muddling, Meddling, and Modeling: Alternative Approaches to the Study of World Politics in an Era of Rapid Change  15. Territorial Affiliations and Emergent Roles: The Shifting Nature of Identity in a Globalizing World  16. Capabilities and Control in an Interdependent World Chapter  17. The Skill Revolution as a Dynamic Process  18. Generational Change and Internet Literacy  Part 5: The Analysis of Foreign Policy  19. Pre-Theories and Theories of Foreign Policy  20. Pre-Theorizing About Foreign Policy in a Globalized World  21. China in a Bifurcated World: Competing Theoretical Perspectives  22. Toward Single-Country Theories of Foreign Policy: The Case of the USSR  23. National Interest

    Biography

    James N. Rosenau is University Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University, having previously been affiliated with three other universities. He is a former President of the International Studies Association (1984-85) and a holder of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1987-88). His books include Turbulence in World Politics: A Theory of Change and Continuity (1990), Along the Domestic-Foreign Frontier Exploring Governance in a Turbulent World (1997), and Distant Proximities: Dynamics Beyond Globalization (2003).