1st Edition

Ordering International Politics Identity, Crisis and Representational Force

By Janice Bially Mattern Copyright 2005
    316 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    How do states sustain international order during crises? Drawing on the political philosophy of Lyotard and through an empirical examination of the Anglo-American international order during the 1956 Suez Crisis, Bially Mattern demonstrates that states can (and do) use representational force--a forceful but non-physical form of power exercised through language--to stabilize international identity and in turn international order.

    Introduction: Toward an identity turn? Theorizing Identity Forcing Order during The Suez Crisis Theoretical Twists, Historical Revisions, and Practical Cautions SECTION I 1. Sources of Order What is International Order? Sources and Factors Identity Order in Crisis 2. The Suez Puzzle Recognizing We-ness The Special Relationship The Suez Crisis (Not) Understanding Nonviolence 3. Forcing Order Language-Power Representational Force Bargaining and Arguing Terror and Exile Agency, Rationality, and the Uses of Tolerance SECTION II 4. Demagnetization Nasser's Unsettling Before Force Using Force After Force 5. Dissolution Narrating American Betrayal Narrating British Bellicosity Identity Dissolved 6. Re-Production The East/West and Lion/Eagle Problem The American Campaign The British Campaign The Fastened We Conclusion: Re-Turn to Identity In Theory In History In Practice Turn to Ethics

    Biography

    Janice Bially Mattern

    "Janice Bially Mattern's impressive first book comes with all barrels loaded... An important addition to the literature." --Perspectives on Politics