The Market in Global International Society: An English School Approach to International Political Economy

The Market in Global International Society tracks the idea and practice of the market through both modern and premodern times, and its evolution as a primary institution in international relations over the past two centuries. It develops a new approach to understanding the relationship between the market and other social and political institutions of global international society. Buzan and Falkner view the market as a political ideology in support of a liberal system of governance, and not just as an economic practice or economy-wide structural feature. In doing so, they draw attention to the market’s powerful impact on international order.

This historical grounding brings into close contact two areas of study that have for much too long stood back-to-back: the English School of International Relations (ES), and International Political Economy (IPE). For the ES, the book fills in the large economic gap in its understanding and portrayal of the primary institutions of international society. Adding in the economic sector has a major impact on how the other primary institutions of international society both work in themselves, and interact with each other. For IPE, the book opens up a new and usefully detailed view of the constant and wide-ranging interaction of the market with the other social and political institutions of global international society. The approach through primary institutions fills in the middle ground between the big-picture classical approaches to IPE, and the current focus on intergovernmental organisations and regimes.

Barry Buzan, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, Robert Falkner, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science

Barry Buzan is a Fellow of the British Academy, Emeritus Professor in the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Department of International Relations, and a Senior Fellow at LSE IDEAS. He was formerly Montague Burton Professor in the Department of International Relations, LSE. He is the author of Rethinking Sino-Japanese Alienation, with Evelyn Goh, and Making Global Society: A Study of Humankind Across Three Eras.

Robert Falkner is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he serves as the Academic Dean of the TRIUM Global EMBA, an alliance between NYU Stern, LSE, and HEC Paris. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He is the author of Environmentalism and Global International Society and co-editor of Great Powers, Climate Change, and Global Environmental Responsibilities.