Protean Power: Exploring the Uncertain and Unexpected in World Politics: 146 (Cambridge Studies in International Relations)

Cambridge University Press, 1/18/2018
EAN 9781108425179, ISBN10: 1108425178

Hardcover, 382 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English

Mainstream international relations continues to assume that the world is governed by calculable risk based on estimates of power, despite repeatedly being surprised by unexpected change. This ground breaking work departs from existing definitions of power that focus on the actors' evolving ability to exercise control in situations of calculable risk. It introduces the concept of 'protean power', which focuses on the actors' agility as they adapt to situations of uncertainty. Protean Power uses twelve real world case studies to examine how the dynamics of protean and control power can be tracked in the relations among different state and non-state actors, operating in diverse sites, stretching from local to global, in both times of relative normalcy and moments of crisis. Katzenstein and Seybert argue for a new approach to international relations, where the inclusion of protean power in our analytical models helps in accounting for unforeseen changes in world politics.

Part I. Theory and Evidence
1. Protean power and control power
conceptual analysis Lucia A. Seybert and Peter J. Katzenstein
2. Uncertainty, risk, power and the limits of international relations theory Peter J. Katzenstein and Lucia A. Seybert
Part II. Protean Power
Embracing Uncertainty
3. Protean power and revolutions in rights Christian Reus-Smit
4. Protean power in movement
navigating uncertainty in the LGBT rights revolution Phillip Ayoub
5. Border collision
power dynamics of enforcement and evasion across the US–Mexico line Noelle K. Brigden and Peter Andreas
6. High tech
power and unpredictability at the technological frontier and in Bitcoin Lucia A. Seybert and Peter J. Katzenstein
Part III. Mixed Worlds
Agility Meets Ability
7. Firms in firmament
hydrocarbons and the circulation of power Rawi Abdelal
8. Incomplete control
the circulation of power in finance Erin Lockwood and Stephen Nelson
9. Terrorism and protean power
how terrorists navigate uncertainty Barak Mendelsohn
10. Slumdog versus Superman
uncertainty, innovation and the circulation of power in the global film industry Lucia A. Seybert, Stephen Nelson and Peter J. Katzenstein
Part IV. Protean Power between Risk and Uncertainty
11. Changing history?
Innovation and continuity in contemporary arms control Jennifer Erickson
12. From Green to REDD
protean power and the politics of carbon sinks Jessica Green
Part V. Conclusion
13. Power complexities and political theory Peter J. Katzenstein and Lucia A. Seybert.