EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
In what ways does the functionalist approach in international relations help in maintaining peace and order if global politics?. (UPSC CSE Mains 2023 - Political Science and International Relations Paper – 2)
- Functionalism has its origins in another branch of the social sciences – Sociology. However, as the idea ‘crossed the boundary’ so to speak, its meaning changed somewhat. Functionalists argued that interaction among states in various spheres created problems which required cooperation to resolve; the most obvious examples being areas like telecommunications and postal services. The positive benefits, and mutual confidence, which arose from cooperation in any one area would likely ‘spill over’, encouraging cooperation in other more significant areas such as trade.
- Functionalists argued that integration was necessary because states were unable to cope with the effects of modernisation. International institutions were thought to be increasingly necessary as a complement to states, whose individual capabilities to deal with problems generated by new technologies were decreasing. Also, functionalists believed that, as the level of cooperation and integration increased, it would be more and more difficult for states to withdraw from the commitments they had entered into, since their people would be aware of the benefits achieved by cooperation. Such functional interaction would, in turn, have effects on international society, enhancing peace and making war so disruptive and costly that it would no longer be considered a ‘rational’ means for states to realise their aims and interests.
- Ideas such as functionalism were clearly supported and encouraged by developments in the ‘real world’, such as European integration, which has today reached the stage of a European Union (EU). Indeed, the European Union provides an example of how functionalism can be seen as a prescription for how relations between states should be encouraged as well as an observation about perceived developments in the world of international politics and international economics. The EU is sometimes held up as an example of functionalist theory in practice.
- However, the Functionalist approach was also levied with criticisms as the functional approach was inherently teleological, i.e., explanations are given in terms of ‘purposes’ or ‘goals’. The method emphasized more on society here and now ‘collectivity’ and did not call attention to the ‘individual’.
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