The emerging literature on peripheral approaches to the global order has sparked debates on the contingent character of the so-called ‘Liberal International Order’. It has retrieved less visible or forgotten voices in world politics, as well as reconstructed the ways in which these voices have contested international norms and institutions. However, much of this literature has focused on recovering the different forms of resistance by a so-called ‘non-West’ to the dominant order imposed by ‘the West’. How these actors have acted beyond responding to Western scripts and practices calls for more exploration.

This conference aims is to investigate the full spectrum of agency beyond the West, with a focus on how different actors have shaped and contested the normative structure of the world order, as well as imagined and constructed alternatives to it. It will seek to shed light on how a variety of actors have articulated their own visions of the relationship between states as well as the relationship between the state and the individual. It will explore the diversity of visions from peripheries, the ways in which they have been pursued, and the degree to which they have been realized.

The workshop puts together contributions from the disciplines of International Relations, History, Sociology and Philosophy, as well as multidisciplinary approaches, speaking to the following core dimensions of global order:

i) The political: distribution and regulation of power

ii) The normative/legal: shared norms and rules that should form the basis for all countries to act on their own or collectively in pursuit of their self-interest or collective interest

iii) The economic: (re)distribution of resources and wealth

COSPONSORS

• The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities

• Sciences Po

ORGANIZER

• Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies

CONTACT

email addressmc5283@columbia.edu

NOTES

• Free and open to the public

• Registration required. See details.