On the standing of states : Latin America in nineteenth-century international society

The present dissertation offers a critical examination of the place accorded to Latin American states in the English School account of the expansion of international society. It pursues two aims. First, the study contributes to understanding the nature and scope of international order, and its historical transformation over the course of the ‘long nineteenth century’. Because of the profound impact that European colonization had on the region, the English School has conventionally treated the entry of Latin American states into international society as an unproblematic historical fact achieved with diplomatic recognition in the 1820s. The crucial cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, however, indicate that more attention needs to the paid to the hierarchical nature of the international order. The central argument of this historical-comparative study posits that the three Latin American states were recognized diplomatically, but they were not regarded as fully-fledged members of the community of ‘civilized’ states. Second, the dissertation examines the implications of hierarchy in international politics. Building on a critique of the legal-formalist conception of ‘standing’ in English School theorizing, three ideal-typical dimensions of international stratification are identified: the distribution of material capabilities (stature), the function states perform in international society (role), and estimations of honour and prestige (status) among states. The interpretative framework sheds light on how agents understand international society, and the way in which they deal with its hierarchical nature. The study analyzes how Latin American elites perceived the standing of their state, and how these perceptions shaped politics through their corresponding ‘logics of social action’. The study finds that nineteenth-century elites in Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil conceived of the standing of their states predominantly in terms of status, and demonstrates how these perceptions informed politics.