Page 77 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Politics in a Small World 63

world polity theorists have carried out an impressive mapping of the
principal cultural norms, and the actors and organizations, that need to
be taken into account in understanding global politics. What also remains
oddly under - theorized in this account, however, is the development of
relations between the actors involved in global politics. Meyer et al stress
how crucial the nation - state is as a “ carrier ” of global cultural norms,
but they do not consider how globalization might alter the very form of
the state itself. It is to this question that we now turn.

2.2 State Transformation and Imperialism

“ Methodological nationalism ” allowed sociologists to treat societies as
if they were coherent and bounded entities, distinct from one another,
and contained within the territories of nation - states. Understanding glo-
balization means an end to this fi ction, and the necessity of taking seri-
ously what was previously the domain of historical sociologists and of
the discipline of International Relations, the way in which states are
formed in relation to each other. Globalization involves a growing density
of international organizations that deal with border - crossing fl ows. Far
more than a matter of relations between states, global governance is

significant for all aspects of social life, including the formation of states
themselves.
It is misleading to think of “ the state ” as if it were a singular, integrated,
and fully formed agent that is now taking on a new role on the world

stage. A state is better seen as a fluid grouping of institutions with unstable
boundaries which create official positions from which social actors negoti-

ate their tasks and capacities, both internally , with others who act “ in the

name of the state, ” and externally , with officials of other states and with
representatives of other social and economic organizations. In other words,
“ the state ” is always an unstable and temporary outcome – however long
a particular formation may last – of ongoing cultural politics. It is as
important to pay attention to the contestation and reformation of its
internal structural form in processes of globalization as to its external
interface with other states and other actors.
“ Global governance ” describes a world in which states must accom-
modate themselves to the development of international and transnational
organizations, not just to prevent or deal with conflicts between states

themselves but increasingly to address every possible issue of national
or international concern. Most importantly, global governance itself is
not exclusively concerned with relations between states, but also with