Book Review: Kai Alderson and Andrew Hurrell (eds.), Hedley Bull on International Society (Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, 279 pp., £45.00 hbk.)
| Author | Samuel M. Makinda |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/03058298000290030901 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Book Reviews
925
Book Reviews
Kai Alderson and Andrew Hurrell (eds.), Hedley Bull on International Society
(Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2000, 279 pp., £45.00 hbk.).
Hedley Bull is best kno wn for his book The Anarch ical Society (1977), in which he
explores the nature of o rder and international society. In recent years, sev eral
publications have discussed Bull’s contribution to IR theory. So, what does this
book tel l us that we do not know already? The simp le answer is t hat it furnishes a
great deal that we need to know about Bull ’s contrib ution to IR theory. It provides
a vital con text within which to reassess the continuing relevance of The Anarchical
Society. Most important ly, it draws attention to the insights that Bull’s writings
shed on global transformations. Thus, this book is essentia l reading for anyone
interested in und erstanding the richness of Bull’s thin king.
Hedley Bull on International Society is divided into t wo parts. The first
comprises three cha pters that situate Bu ll’s work within the context of
contempora ry deb ates, and is the part on which this review foc uses. It draws
largely on Bull’s lectures, un published papers, letters an d the manuscripts he left
uncompleted when he died in 1985.
The se cond part consi sts of nine c hapters based o n Bull’s article s written
between the 1960s and the 1980s. They include ‘Society and Anarchy in
Internation al Relations’, ‘ Justice in International Re lations’, ‘The State’s Posit ive
Role in World Affairs’, ‘In ternational Relation s as an Academic Pursuit’ and ‘Th e
Twenty Years’ Crisi s Thirty Years On’. It is surp rising that the edito rs could not
find ro om for B ull’s 1966 article, ‘Internatio nal Theory: The Case for a Classical
Approach’. This essay introduced Bull to the US IR co mmunity and in directly
served a s an invita tion for scholars to ‘open up ’ the discip line. The extra value of
these essays lie s in the fact that each is precede d by very useful in troductory notes.
While some rea ders will have read much of th e contents in pa rt two, they are
unlikely to be familiar with arguments in part I. In c hapter o ne, Ald erson an d
Hurrell focus on the main elements of Bull’s conception of interna tional society.
They posit that Bull believes that relations among states cannot be understood
simply i n terms of anarchy, tha t international society is not conc eived in terms of
the direct transposition of do mestic ideas about government and order, and that
‘society’ does not i mply that international relations are peace ful or ha rmonious.
This is an impo rtant essay for those who are not familia r with Bull’s work.
Chapter two juxtaposes Bull’s writing to th ree paradig ms—realism,
institutio nalism, and constructivism—and p ortrays Bull as an ec lectic thinker. This
chapter eleg antly challenges scholars like Jim George and Fred Halliday who have
To continue reading
Request your trial