Constructing a Global Polity ― Theory, Discourse and Governance

What is a 'global polity' and can it be squared with the continued strength of nation-states?

This book argues that our current understanding of globalization makes it impossible to grasp some crucial changes in world politics. Drawing innovatively on both Foucault and Waltz Constructing a Global Polity reframes the debate about global politics by redefining the term 'polity' as a new model of political structure. Unlike hierarchy and anarchy, polity draws attention to how new objects of governance such as the global economy or climate affect the structure of world politics.

Through this new lens the author examines the construction of a global polity in the controversy that followed the dramatic 'anti-globalization' protests at global elite gatherings. The findings challenge the standard typology of positions in the globalization debate and suggest that, even while states remain central, the logic of world politics may be shifting in more subtle ways.

Olaf Corry is Lecturer in International Relations at The Open University, UK. He has a PhD from the University of Copenhagen and has previously worked at Cambridge and as a policy-advisor. He has written about global politics, social movements, climate change and risk in journals such as Review of International Studies, Millennium, and Political Studies.