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Becoming an Actor in World Politics: International and Transnational Recognition

Module description

How does one become an actor in world politics? Who gets to be ‘someone’ and thereby engage in cooperation and conflict, diplomacy, global governance, resistance, lobbying, and so on? Recognition processes play a pervasive role in the emergence of what we consider as actors. The traditional central players of international relations, i.e. states, only become such by being formally recognised as sovereign by their sovereign peers. At the same time, beyond the letter of law, world politics is filled with multiple, less structured forms of transnational recognition that occur ‘across, between and over the state’ (Brincat 2017). This module will firstly expose you to the politics of international recognition surrounding processes of state formation, secessionism and the variety of cases of ‘contested’ or ‘de facto’ states which perform some state functions while lacking full international recognition. We also will investigate the problematic recognition of governments in situations such as coups d'état, civil wars, decolonisation conflicts and foreign occupation. The second part of the module will deal with transnational recognition of mostly non-state actors such as civil society organisations, social movements, civil resistance movements, national liberation movements, rebel groups, and parties to civil wars and other conflicts. The class will have the chance to choose the case studies that will be examined in depth in term 2. No pre-requisites or prior experience needed.

Module aims - intentions of the module

1) To introduce students to the politics of international recognition of states, secessionism and contested statehood

2) To bridge traditional (legal and state-centric) understandings of international recognition in IR and the social theory of recognition

3) To expand traditional views of international recognition into the concept of transnational recognition, applying the latter to a variety of processes of state and non-state actor emergence in world politics

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate understanding and situate debates on the international recognition of states and contested statehood
• 2. Critically apply insights from the social theory of recognition to both state and non-state actors in world politics

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Find, use and analyse secondary and primary data relevant to specific issues in politics and IR;
• 4. Place contemporary political issues in larger contexts;
• 5. Deploy critical arguments in analysing political issues and evaluating sources;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Work independently and in a group, including the presentation of material for group discussion;
• 7. Demonstrate analytical skills and the ability to digest, select and organise material;
• 8. Demonstrate writing skills including the ability to produce well organised and coherent essays to a deadline, practice in articulating and defending positions on tutorial topics.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• State recognition in international law and politics
• Secessionist movements and unrecognised/contested/de facto states
• Recognition in social and political theory
• Interstate recognition in IR: (mis)recognition or ‘disrespect’ as driver for state behaviour and cause of war
• Interstate recognition in IR: mutual recognition as respect/status between states, case of rising powers
• Recognition of governments: coups d'état, civil wars, decolonisation conflicts, foreign occupation
• Transnational recognition of non-state actors: social movements, civil resistance movements, national liberation movements, rebel movements, parties to civil wars
• (Mis)recognition in identity conflicts
• Recognition in conflict resolution/peacebuilding: ‘thick recognition’ in transformation of intractable conflicts, reconciliation and just peace
• Case studies (term 2) to be determined by class

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Aggestam, K. and A. Björkdahl (eds.) (2013), Rethinking Peacebuilding: The Quest for Just Peace in the Middle East and the Western Balkans (Oxon/New York: Routledge).
• Brincat, S. (2017) ‘Cosmopolitan Recognition: Three Vignettes, International Theory, 9(1), pp. 1-32.
• Caspersen, N. and G. Stansfield (eds.) (2011) Unrecognized States in the International System (Oxon/New York: Routledge).
• Crawford, J.R. (2006) The Creation of States in International Law (2^nd ed.) (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Checkel, J.T. (ed.) (2013) Transnational Dynamics of Civil War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Coggins, B.L. (2016) Power Politics and State Formation in the 20^th Century: The Dynamics of Recognition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Daase, C., C. Fehl, A. Geis and G. Kolliarakis (eds.) (2015) Recognition in International Relations: Rethinking a Political Concept in a Global Context (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
• Geldenhuys, D. (2009) Contested States in World Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
• Gosewinkel, D. and D. Rucht (eds.) (2017) Transnational Struggles for Recognition: New Perspectives on Civil Society since the Twentieth Century (New York/Oxford: Berghahn Books).
• Honneth, A. (1995) The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts (Cambridge: Polity).
• Ker-Lindsay, J. (2012) The Foreign Policy of Counter Secession: Preventing the Recognition of Contested States (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Lindemann, T. (2010) Causes of War: The Struggle for Recognition (Colchester: ECPR Press).
• Lindemann, T. and E. Ringmar (eds.) (2012) The International Politics of Recognition (Boulder/London: Paradigm).
• McBride, C. (2013) Recognition (Cambridge: Polity).
• O’Neill, S. and N.H. Smith (eds.) (2012) Recognition Theory as Social Research: Investigating the Dynamics of Social Conflict (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
• Pegg, S. (1998) International Society and the de Facto State (Farnham: Ashgate).
• Taylor, C. and A. Gutmann (eds.) (1994) Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
• Visoka, G, J. Doyle and E. Newman (eds.) (2020) Routledge Handbook of State Recognition (Oxon/New York: Routledge, 2020).

Key words search

Recognition, actors, world politics, state formation, secessionism, contested states, de facto states, transnational recognition, social theory of recognition