Making Global Society: A Study of Humankind Across Three Eras

With characteristic ambition and erudition, Buzan tells the sweeping story of the rise and evolution of modern global society. Over the last two decades, Buzan has been a leading figure urging scholars of international relations to move beyond Western-centric approaches to forge a truly global discipline. For Buzan, this means turning to global history, exploring the large forces and dynamics that have shaped and transformed human societies over millennia. The book builds on the so-called English School that conceives of the international system as a “world society” in which states and peoples craft institutions to manage conflict and the unfolding challenges of modernity. Buzan explores the ways in which economics, technology, and politics shape and transform basic human institutions such as war, sovereignty, state formation, religion, diplomacy, nationalism, development, and environmental stewardship. The strength of Buzan’s approach is its universality, weaving the complex evolution of modern society into a single story. He ominously speculates that today’s cascading environmental crises could bring to an end modern civilization and the quest for human betterment.