Acknowledgments; Contents; Abbreviations; List of Tables; Part I; Chapter 1: The Issue of€Institutional Emergence in€East Asia: An€Introduction; 1.1 Regionalism in€East Asia: Changing Institutional Patterns in€a€Complex Region; 1.2 Institutionalisms and€Their Shortcomings: Challenging Epiphenomenal Views; 1.3 Introducing the€Concept of€Emergence to€the€Study of€World Politics: Implications for€Studying Regional Institutions; 1.4 A Guide to€the€Structure of€the€Book; 1.5 Notes; References; Chapter 2: A Critical Realist Approach to€the€Study of€World Politics. 2.1 A Realist Philosophy of€ScienceThe Science Question and€Two Distinct Types of€Ontology; Dimensions of€Knowledge: Transitive and€Intransitive; Dualism, the€World, and€Emergent Ontology; 2.2 Key Concepts and€Conceptual Abstraction; Key Concepts: Causality, Stratification, and€the€Openness of€Social Systems; 2.2.0.1 Causality and€Mechanisms; 2.2.0.2 Stratification and€Emergence; 2.2.0.3 Closed and€Open Systems; Conceptual Abstraction and€Causal Analysis; 2.2.0.4 Structural Analysis: Structures as€Relations; 2.2.0.5 Causal Analysis: Powers, Mechanisms, and€Tendencies. 2.3 Social Science and€Concrete Research: Methodological ImplicationsGeneralizations as€Abstract Concepts and€Inference as€a€Thought Operation; A Model for€Explanatory Research: Theory and€Research Design; The Distinction of€Agency and€Structure; 2.4 Concluding Remarks: Critical Realism in€International Relations; Notes; References; Chapter 3: Emergence and€Complexity in€the€International System: Developing a€Social Ontology of€International Relations; 3.1 Complexity and€Emergentist Thinking in€IR; 3.1.1 Applying an€Emergent Ontology to€the€International System. 3.1.2 Systems Thinking and€Complexity Approaches in€IR3.1.3 Complex International Systems and€Emergent Properties; 3.2 Emergence in€International Systems: Introducing the€Concept of€Emergence; 3.2.1 A Short History and€the€Main Distinctions of€the€Concept of€Emergence; 3.2.2 Social Emergence in€Complex International Systems; 3.2.3 Downward Causation and€Irreducibility; 3.3 Regional Institutions as€Emergent Entities of€the€International System: Relational Organization and€Emergent Properties; 3.3.1 Identifying Regional Institutions as€Emergent Entities; 3.3.2 Reformulating Institutional Design. 3.3.2.1 Institutional Design as€a€Variable3.3.2.2 Institutional Design as€Emergent Properties; 3.3.3 Emergent Properties, Powers, and€Mechanisms; 3.4 Studying Regional Institutions as€Emergent: A€Preliminary Conclusion; Notes; References; Chapter 4: Emergence and€the€Complexity of€Social Practices: The€Role of€Discourse in€Social Emergence; 4.1 Discourse as€a€Social Practice in€Complex International Systems: A€Realist Conception; 4.1.1 The Relevance of€Language and€Discourse in€Social Emergence; 4.1.2 A Realist Understanding of€Discourse; 4.1.3 A Short Dialogue with€Poststructuralism

This book presents a conceptualization of social emergence in international relations as a novel angle to analyse institutional dynamics in East Asia, introducing the concept of emergence from a critical realist perspective. The author examines East Asia's characteristic mesh work of regional institutions that affect integrative processes and regional policies, exploring how such institutions emerge and acquire their own nature and why this pattern persists over time, an unresolved and contested subject in the field of International Relations. This book suggests that regional institutions are emergent entities of the international system that arise as forms of self-organization by states to achieve certain emergent properties and powers. The author's approach sheds light on the particular emergent properties and powers of regional institutions and identifies discourse as a key mechanism of social emergence. Besides engaging in relevant questions of the philosophy of science and its methodological implications for studying social emergence in world politics, the book also analyses the concrete case of two East Asian regional institutions: ASEAN Plus Three and the East Asia Summit. This book will engage scholars and postgraduate students of Asian Studies and International Relations. Maren Wagner is a Research Fellow at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and is Coordinator of GIGA's Doctoral Programme. She completed her PhD in political science at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and worked as an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Kiel, Germany.