Durkheim and International Relations
I revisit Durkheim’s understanding of modern society and use his framework to examine contemporary international society. I compare and contrast Durkheim’s response to modernity with other sociological theorists of his day. Durkheim’s is in many ways the most promising and relevant to the present. I ask why the kind of solidarity he envisaged has not developed in the modern world, where arguably inclusive forms of solidarity are almost everywhere on the decline. Drawing on this analysis I turn to international society and ask a series of questions of solidarity, its relative absence, or lumpiness and their consequences for international relations.