This book seeks to understand how Russia’s multifaceted rejection of American unipolarity and de-territorialised neo-liberal capitalism has contributed to the gestation of the present multipolar moment in the global political economy. Analysing Western world order precepts via the actions of a powerful, albeit precarious, national political economy and state structure situated on the periphery of Western world order, Silvius explores the manner in which culture and ideas are mobilised for the purposes of national, regional and international political and economic projects in a post-global age. The book: Explains and analyses the tensions of post-Soviet Russia’s integration into, and simultaneous partial rejection of, the capitalist global political economy. Provides an overview of the social, political and historical origins of Russian samobytnost’ (uniqueness) after the fall of the Soviet Union and demonstrates their significance to contemporary understandings of world order. Explores how structures of cultural difference and practices of cultural differentiation interact with the normative legacies of American hegemonic aspirations in contemporary world order structures. Evaluates how cultural and civilisational representations are mobilised for state-projects and their corresponding regional and international dimensions within the global political economy. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russian Foreign Policy, IPE and comparative political economy.

This timely and original volume fills the gaps in the existing theoretical and philosophical literature on international relations by problematizing civilization as a new unit of research in global politics. It interrogates to what extent and in what ways civilization is becoming a strategic frame of reference in the current world order. The book complements and advances the existing field of study previously dominated by other approaches – economic, national, class-based, racial, and colonial – and tests its key philosophical suppositions against countries that exhibit civilizational ambitions. The authors are all leading international scholars in the fields of political theory, IR, cultural analysis, and area studies who deal with various aspects of the civilizational arena. Offering key chapters on ideology, multipolarity, modernity, liberal democracy, and capitalism, this book extends the existing methodological, theoretical, and empirical debates for IR and area studies scholars globally. It will be of great interest to politicians, public opinion makers, and all those concerned with the evolution of world affairs.

This book seeks to understand how Russia’s multifaceted rejection of American unipolarity and de-territorialised neo-liberal capitalism has contributed to the gestation of the present multipolar moment in the global political economy. Analysing Western world order precepts via the actions of a powerful, albeit precarious, national political economy and state structure situated on the periphery of Western world order, Silvius explores the manner in which culture and ideas are mobilised for the purposes of national, regional and international political and economic projects in a post-global age. The book: Explains and analyses the tensions of post-Soviet Russia’s integration into, and simultaneous partial rejection of, the capitalist global political economy. Provides an overview of the social, political and historical origins of Russian samobytnost’ (uniqueness) after the fall of the Soviet Union and demonstrates their significance to contemporary understandings of world order. Explores how structures of cultural difference and practices of cultural differentiation interact with the normative legacies of American hegemonic aspirations in contemporary world order structures. Evaluates how cultural and civilisational representations are mobilised for state-projects and their corresponding regional and international dimensions within the global political economy. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russian Foreign Policy, IPE and comparative political economy.

This book examines the role of civilizations in the context of the existing and possible world orders from a cross-cultural perspective. Seeking to clarify the meaning of such complex and contested notions as "civilization," "order," and "world order," it takes into account political, economic, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of social life.

The book comes at a very critical moment in the debate on civilization and responds to the lack of scholarly attention by international relations and political theorists as to how the discourse of dialogue of cultures, religions, and civilizations can contribute to the future of world order.

The contributors to Constructing the Pluriverse critique the hegemony of the postcolonial Western tradition and its claims to universality by offering a set of “pluriversal” approaches to understanding the coexisting epistemologies and practices of the different worlds and problems we inhabit and encounter. Moving beyond critiques of colonialism, the contributors rethink the relationship between knowledge and power, offering new perspectives on development, democracy, and ideology while providing diverse methodologies for non-Western thought and practice that range from feminist approaches to scientific research to ways of knowing expressed through West African oral traditions. In combination, these wide-ranging approaches and understandings form a new analytical toolbox for those seeking creative solutions for dismantling Westernization throughout the world. Contributors. Zaid Ahmad, Manuela Boatcă, Hans-Jürgen Burchardt, Raewyn Connell, Arturo Escobar, Sandra Harding, Ehsan Kashfi, Venu Mehta, Walter D. Mignolo, Ulrich Oslender, Issiaka Ouattara, Bernd Reiter, Manu Samnotra, Catherine E. Walsh, Aram Ziai

At the end of the Cold War two famous articles were published which produced contrasting visions of a new world order, namely: Francis Fukuyama's The End of History (1989) and Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations (1993). The content of these two articles not only framed the post-cold war debate but the prospect of two great geo-political realities capable of influencing global events. Fukuyama's The End of History provided an optimistic prediction of a New World Order in which liberal democracy and capitalism would triumph over all other ideologies to form a lasting social order of peace and prosperity. In contrast, Huntington's article was far more pessimistic in its future predictions and argued that the post-cold war would produce a multi-polar world of regional tensions and conflict in which civilizations were destined to clash. As global capitalism leads towards greater levels of economic interdependence a universal culture of mass consumption will become increasingly evident in all societies. This will create a growing population of consumers whose ideas, tastes and aspirations will increasingly reflect Western ideals. The effects of globalization may provoke feelings of hostility at the imposition of liberal democratic values but such hostility will not necessarily lead to a clash of civilizations. In a New World Order civilizations will need to embrace global capitalism or risk becoming increasingly alienated and disempowered. National and cultural identities may strengthen as a result of globalization but this will not undermine the global balance of power. Therefore, the strength of opposition to global capitalism will be ineffective in preventing the spread of consumer culture and civilizations will exist as benign entities within an increasingly globalized world.