Blasts from the Past: War and Fracture in the International System
(2016) In International Political Sociology 10(4). p.352-368- Abstract
- This article is a brief inquiry into the changing meaning of war in Western political thought, with special reference to its role in fracturing the contemporary international system. I argue that contemporary debates about the changing nature of war have failed to note what I take to be the most important change in our understanding of war in recent decades—the return of the long-suppressed view that regards war as a productive force in human affairs. I substantiate this argument by showing how war was long believed to be productive of sociopolitical order in general, and of the modern state and the international system in particular. I then proceed to show how similar conceptions of war inform contemporary practices of military... (More)
- This article is a brief inquiry into the changing meaning of war in Western political thought, with special reference to its role in fracturing the contemporary international system. I argue that contemporary debates about the changing nature of war have failed to note what I take to be the most important change in our understanding of war in recent decades—the return of the long-suppressed view that regards war as a productive force in human affairs. I substantiate this argument by showing how war was long believed to be productive of sociopolitical order in general, and of the modern state and the international system in particular. I then proceed to show how similar conceptions of war inform contemporary practices of military intervention and nation-building, and how the acceptance of this view among scholars has made them complicit in its legitimization and reproduction. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/841a76b4-4368-4618-a154-a5ad2ff65a03
- author
- Bartelson, Jens LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- International Political Sociology
- volume
- 10
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 352 - 368
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85021119018
- wos:000392920600004
- ISSN
- 1749-5687
- DOI
- 10.1093/ips/olw019
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 841a76b4-4368-4618-a154-a5ad2ff65a03
- date added to LUP
- 2017-05-18 09:20:18
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:05:07
@article{841a76b4-4368-4618-a154-a5ad2ff65a03,
abstract = {{This article is a brief inquiry into the changing meaning of war in Western political thought, with special reference to its role in fracturing the contemporary international system. I argue that contemporary debates about the changing nature of war have failed to note what I take to be the most important change in our understanding of war in recent decades—the return of the long-suppressed view that regards war as a productive force in human affairs. I substantiate this argument by showing how war was long believed to be productive of sociopolitical order in general, and of the modern state and the international system in particular. I then proceed to show how similar conceptions of war inform contemporary practices of military intervention and nation-building, and how the acceptance of this view among scholars has made them complicit in its legitimization and reproduction.}},
author = {{Bartelson, Jens}},
issn = {{1749-5687}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{352--368}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{International Political Sociology}},
title = {{Blasts from the Past: War and Fracture in the International System}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/102648940/Bartelson_Blasts.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1093/ips/olw019}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2016}},
}