Abstract

‘Power Shifts and Global Governance: Challenges from South and North’ presents an eclectic theoretical framework for emerging architectures of global governance through examining country and regional case studies from the perspective of 'great power shifts' in the twenty-first century. The book analytically and empirically explores the role of global civil society, discusses the implications of the rise of India and China, analyses regional security issues in Latin America and the Middle East and develops proposals for possible summit and UN reforms.

Ashwani Kumar is Associate Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He is also the author of ‘Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar’ (Anthem Press 2008).

Dirk Messner is Director of the German Development Institute (DIE) in Bonn and Professor of Political Science at the University Duisburg-Essen. He is also a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).

'This book goes beyond simple claims that globalization is about westernizing the world to show how countries that have not been international powerhouses nonetheless are able to use globalization to define a larger international role for themselves.' —Robert Henry Cox, Professor, School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma, and co-editor of the journal 'Governance'

Animated by theoretical eclecticism and methodological diversity, ‘Power Shifts and Global Governance: Challenges from South and North’ presents a 'post-national' political project for analyzing emerging architectures of global governance and examining country and regional case studies from the perspective of  'great power shifts' in the twenty-first century. Using theoretical insights from neo-Kantians and neo-institutionalists, the book explores the contested meanings and practices of globalization and polycentric governance in the context of emerging powers such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, and examines the implications of shifts in the foreign and domestic policies of the new powers in the world. The book not only reflects on the fundamental erosion of an international order in which Western societies enjoyed a relatively uncomplicated consensus on their political, economic and ideological eminence, but also debates the nature of emerging 'radically incomplete' global interdependencies among nations.

Challenging the hegemony of dominant paradigms in conventional International Relations theories and blurring the traditional distinctions between South and North, the book seeks a new 'New Deal' to address issues of poverty, climate change and human security at the global level. Written in clear, lucid language, the book is a serious attempt to deepen newer ways of international cooperation as it re-imagines the future of cosmopolitan democracy and global civil society.

'Offers an innovative blend of conceptual insight and policy proposals. Ambitiously crafted, this book points towards a world that the editors argue convincingly is more possible than commonly contemplated.' —Andrew F. Cooper, Associate Director and Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo, Canada