How Can a World Polity Framework Be Used to Analyze the Establishment and Redevelopment of Transitional States? POLITICS
Abstract
Nadine Yassin
This paper uses a world polity approach to analyze the establishment and development of transitional states. To do so, I shed light on the world polity theory as specified by previous literature. The notion of an interconnected set of actors and institutions as being part of a world society is introduced to understand how action in the international community is a byproduct of an interrelated set of context-specific processes. Special attention is given to nation states and international non-governmental organizations to set the stage for where transitional states fall within this paradigm. A causal historical analysis of the Arab Spring is used to describe how a world polity model can be used to analyze how transitional states come into fruition. From this, I offer a case analysis of the ways international non-governmental organizations influenced humanitarian aid in post-revolutionary Egypt as part of redeveloping this transitional state by using the example of anti-female genital cutting campaigns. It was found that these organizations were able to effectively translate world cultural scripts to influence humanitarian action. Overall, this paper highlights how the world polity theory can indeed be used to examine complex transitional states in an innovative and profound manner.
Introduction
This paper seeks to understand the ways in which transitional states are created and reimagined. Transitional states are complicated environments in which various institutions must be rebuilt through the use of systemic agenda setting and reformative action as specified by local and international actors. In this paper, I will analyze the ways in which a world polity approach can be taken to understand how exactly a complex transitional state may come into being, and how an interrelated set of actors becomes paramount in the redevelopment of various essential dimensions of these nation states. There will be an emphasis on the role that international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) play within these nation states in terms of both humanitarian aid and as the carriers of world polity themes. This will be achieved through a causal historical analysis of the Arab Spring and the ways in which transitional states were established within a world polity model. Likewise, I will also offer an analysis of the ways in which INGOs were able to translate world cultural scripts regarding offering humanitarian aid to post-revolutionary Egypt following the Arab Spring. This will be achieved through a case analysis of female genital cutting (FGC) and the rhetoric of anti-FGC campaigns as perpetuated by INGOs working in transitional Egypt following the revolution. While there is a significant amount of literature detailing the role world polity plays in the development of humanitarian aid, and global structures, as it exists currently, there is very little literature pertaining to the link between world polity and transitional states, especially in the context of the Arab world. Ultimately, I
20 | Emory Undergraduate Research Journal
anticipate that a world polity approach will be able to offer a profound dimension of analysis pertaining to the ways a transitional state can emerge and how global actors can play integral roles in the redevelopment of these fragmented nation states.
World Polity World polity is a school of thought developed in the 1970s by John W. Meyer. This theory analyzes the relationship between rules, practices, and institutions on a global scale, asserting that “contemporary constructed ‘actors,’ including nation-states, routinely organize and legitimate themselves in terms of universalistic (world) models such as citizenship, socioeconomic development, and rationalized justice.” 1 Under world polity theory, the geopolitical world is a social system bound by a set of global norms, ideas, interests, and meanings that propel action. Initially, world polity theory focused on analyzing the role and evolution of inter-state relations. This then shifted in the 1980’s and 1990’s to accommodate the rise of globalization, thus providing for more analysis concerning the role of global actors in transnational social movements. The world polity theory is best defined as an analytical framework that interprets global relations, structures, and practices by viewing the world as a system of interrelated independent parts that each advance global social change. This world system is regarded as a world society that possesses the same components of the national society we live in: norms, practices, culture, etc. This ‘world society’ thus becomes a cultural framework that makes various actors
