Global Standards of Market Civilization

Abstract

With the evolution of the modern states system there have existed “standards of civilization” to which states must measure up to and conform if they are to fully participate as legitimate and sovereign members of international society The capacity for a high level of social cooperation and self-government of any given society including economic governance, has long represented a hallmark of “civilization” (Bowden, 2004a). Historically a society required organizational capacity to enter into and uphold mutually binding contracts under the law of nations, the principle of reciprocity being a key demand of relations among the society of states. And though the idea of “uncivilized” societies is at odds with recent trends toward political correctness, today terms such as “good governance” imply a similar logic whereby states and societies are required to conform to contemporary global standards of civilization. At the same time, as in the past, the workings of markets continue to be thought of as having a civilizing effect on society; both internally amongst its members and in external relations with other societies. The latter, that is, the arena of international external relations is a particularly significant concern in an era of elevated globalization and ever-increasing economic and financial interdependence. But as Norbert Elias has observed, “if the reduction of mutual physical danger or increased pacification is considered a decisive criterion for determining the degree of civilization, then humankind can be said to have reached a higher level of civilization within domestic affairs than on the international plane.” For at the global “level