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  • International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World

    International Cooperation Against All Odds by Davis Cross, Mai'a K.;

    The Ultrasocial World

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      • Publisher's listprice GBP 26.49
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    12 655 Ft

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    Availability

    Estimated delivery time: Expected time of arrival: end of January 2026.
    Not in stock at Prospero.

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    Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.

    Product details:

    • Publisher OUP Oxford
    • Date of Publication 3 November 2023

    • ISBN 9780198894995
    • Binding Paperback
    • No. of pages320 pages
    • Size 235x158x18 mm
    • Weight 494 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations 2
    • 509

    Categories

    Short description:

    International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World recasts how we understand international relations through an examination of how the human evolutionary predisposition to be "ultrasocial" as a species impacts which political ideas succeed, transform, manipulate, and inspire on a global scale.

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    Long description:

    International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World recasts how we understand international relations through an examination of how the human evolutionary predisposition to be "ultrasocial" as a species impacts which political ideas succeed, transform, manipulate, and inspire on a global scale.

    At a time when pessimism about our current world order is at an all-time high, this book overturns widespread assumptions that international relations is mainly about conflict, power, and national self-interest. In the last 10-20 years, scientists have discovered that as a species, we are biologically hard-wired, soft-wired, and pre-wired to be other-regarding and cooperative. Humans are an ultrasocial species, and yet this predisposition is completely ignored in governments across the world. Political leaders, experts, and the media have cultivated a myopic vision of global conflict, feeding an obsession on crises of the moment, rather than recognizing frequent and significant breakthroughs in peaceful cooperation and overall trends in the decline of violence.

    This book shows how time and time again our ultrasocial predisposition has pushed us towards big ideas that inspire and bring us together around the power of possibility. Featuring original research on international cooperation in outer-space exploration, European Union integration, nuclear weapons, and climate change, among other examples, Mai'a K. Davis Cross shows ultrasociality at work in a range of contexts. Tracing the path from social neuroscience and evolutionary biology (among others) to the power of ideas to international agreements, International Cooperation Against All Odds opens up an entirely new understanding of world politics. If we recognize our nature as a species and the potential we have to work together, we can start to transform institutions, and devise policies that take advantage of this. The book ends with a roadmap to promote more international cooperation, and eventually, a more stable, peaceful world order.

    Very rarely is there a book that challenges what we take for granted when studying and organizing world politics. This is one of these books. Cross' book is nothing less than a paradigm shift. It will undoubtedly become a classic

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    Table of Contents:

    Introduction
    Part I Humans are Ultrasocial Beings
    The Micro Level
    Biology Meets Culture
    The Social in Social Science
    In an Ultrasocial World, Certain Ideas Matter More
    Part II European Integration
    The Federalist Idea & The European Movement
    European Transformation
    Optimism, Pessimism…and Repeat
    Part III Space Exploration
    The Spaceflight Idea & The Spaceflight Movement
    International Cooperation & the Space Race
    A Permanent Presence in Space…and Beyond
    Part IV Nuclear Weapons
    The Non-Use Idea & The Anti-Nuclear Movement
    The Nuclear Taboo & Disarmament
    The Taboo & Its Rivals
    Part V Climate Change
    The Climate Movement
    The Net-Zero Idea & the Race to Save Earth
    Conclusion
    Bibliography

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