World Ordering
A Social Theory of Cognitive Evolution

‘Emanuel Adler has written a work of extraordinary range and ambition. To say that it contributes to ‘grand theory' in international relations tells only part of the story. His evolutionary-constructivist theory offers a new and challenging way to think about stability and change in many kinds of social order. This book will stimulate constructive debate both within and beyond international relations.' Charles R. Beitz, Princeton University, New Jersey

'Emanuel Adler’s theory of world order constitutes a unique and bold intellectual contribution. By addressing constructivist meta-theorising on a par with constitutive evolutionary theorising of world ordering, explanatory theorising of how such social orders evolve and normative theorising about the nature of better orders, his book shows in practice how our different modes of theorising need to be thought in parallel. Out of this reflection, Adler’s framework combines practice and evolutionary theory that puts into motion a reconfigured understanding of communities of practice in their making of world order. Confronted with a fragmentation of theory and world order alike, the discipline of international relations has seen a return to grand theory of a more sophisticated kind. For all trying to ‘think through’ this fragmentation, Adler’s book provides an indispensable intervention.' Stefano Guzzini, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Uppsala universitet, Sweden

'A truly ambitious and innovative work that challenges dominant modes of theorizing international relations.' John Gerard Ruggie, Harvard University

‘Over the past three decades, Emanuel Adler has built up a weighty résumé of sophisticated contributions to debates about meta-theory and world order. World Ordering: A Social Theory of Cognitive Evolution both builds on and extends this oeuvre. It is a landmark achievement, one that will be ranked alongside, and may supersede, previous statements by Ernst Haas, Alexander Wendt, and others. World Ordering is, by any standard, a major accomplishment. The book is theoretically fertile, analytically insightful and compellingly argued. It is also a work of considerable ambition, rigour and sophistication. In his endorsement, Peter Katzenstein writes that its jacket ‘should scream must read’. Quite so.' George Lawson, International Sociology

'World ordering is a must-read and a major step in IR theorizing. It opens the latter to a flexible, processual social ontology, as well as to evolutionary theory.' International Affairs

'With World Ordering, Adler has thus placed a solid foundation upon which scholarship on practice(s) and social order(s) can build and, relying on both creative variation and selective retention, strive toward a better understanding of social reality.' International Studies Review

'Adler’s social theory of cognitive evolution offers a novel way to look at the role played by practices in world-ordering processes.' Canadian Journal of Political Science

'Emanuel Adler has been thinking about cognitive evolution, collective meaning, and social construction for a very long time. This book represents a major statement of his mature views, a kind of theoretical summation of decades of scholarship.' Perspectives on Politics