Order and Society

Abstract

‘A study of order in world politics’: The subtitle to The Anarchical Society is both descriptive of what is to be found between its covers, but also intriguing for a number of reasons. The first is the scope of the topic. In terms of the depth of the concept of order, Bull quickly shows that it appeals to some fundamental ideas about the nature of human society. But the scope is also large in terms of the breadth of the coverage attempted: World politics is a very big thing indeed. The second reason for intrigue is the nature of study, a matter that has come in for a great deal of attention in international relations in the 20 years since Hedley Bull died and which has seen the rise of a post-positivist challenge that has made a powerful case for the connections between studying and doing.¹