European Security in Integration Theory by Kamil Zwolski

Author:Kamil Zwolski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Haas, Mitrany and Functionalism

Con sidering an enormous impact of Haas on the understanding of functionalism in International Relations, it is important to begin with Haas’s own interpretation of the functionalist approach. This interpretation did not always accurately reflect the actual approach of Mitrany – the discrepancy that may have contributed to the fact that after Haas’ reformulation, functionalism has seldom been associated with the study of international security, governance and order, and instead has been almost exclusively associated with the study of regional integration, primarily its economic aspects. Long and Ashworth (1999) elucidated various differences in interpretation of what functionalism is, three of which are particularly relevant here. First, Haas criticised functionalists for separating technical issues from political issues, clearly favouring the former. Indeed, Mitrany did make a distinction of such nature, but in a private note to Haas he clarified that he did not consider the political/technical distinction a basis for his approach. Rather, his functionalist approach made a point of contrasting a relatively rigid and fixed constitutional system, exemplified by international federations, with a more pragmatic and adaptive functional system (Mitrany 1963a). Long and Ashworth (1999) further note that the criticism of the ‘separability thesis’ rests on the misunderstanding of the way in which Mitrany understood politics. In contrast to his critics, who operated with a power-political definition, Mitrany preferred a service-oriented view.

Second, Haas argued that the functional system is composed of voluntary bodies – a view which he questioned. His depiction of functionalism as making a distinction between ‘a wholesome work of the voluntary group and the suspect activities of the government’ (Haas 1964, p. 21) was, again, rejected by Mitrany (1963a). Indeed, the utility of the functionalist approach for international security would be severely limited if it only recognised voluntary associations and non-governmental agencies. In his writing, Mitrany often referred to real-life examples of functional organisations, and they are mostly bodies created by governments. This de facto focus on governmental functional organisations, such as the ECSC or the agencies of the League of Nations, is unsurprising, considering Mitrany’s main concern with international peace. Third, Haas depicted the functional system as ultimately leading to a world federation, but Mitrany was more restrained in this matter. It is true that Mitrany envisaged that some form of federation was possible as the ultimate outcome of the spontaneous, organic functional integration, but this was certainly not an integral part of his functionalist approach. In fact, often times when Mitrany did talk about the possibility of the international federation, it was in response to the questions from federalists who insisted that federation was the only hope to avoid another major war (Mitrany 1948). While these remarks appear on the margins of his theorising, at the centre of the Mitrany’s approach is the contrast between flexible functional arrangements not requiring a fixed constitutional setup, and the relatively rigid structure embedded in international federations.

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