Abstract

This chapter presents an overview on the current debate on modus vivendi theorising and makes selective use of the arguments developed in the subsequent chapters to show how this book contributes to it. First, modus vivendi is defined as an arrangement that enables political cooperation in the face of conflict, which can be supported for moral and non-moral reasons and is shaped by the specific context from which it emerges. Second, it is shown that those who make modus vivendi a central concept of their political theorising include both liberal and realist theorists: while liberals use it to reinterpret the liberal project, realists aim to make it the basis of a distinctive form of political theorising that avoids the “moralising” tendencies of much of current liberal political theorising. This chapter discusses in more detail the latter project and shows, third, how realists have worked towards a political theory of modus vivendi by defining standards of legitimacy that are less idealised. However, there are two important criticisms. Some question whether realist accounts of legitimacy differ significantly from “liberal moralism”. Others argue that these accounts express an uncritical view towards domination. Finally, the chapter sketches some proposals for the further developments of modus vivendi theorising that are discussed in this book. One is to focus more explicitly on the circumstances and practices of modus vivendi politics. Another is to make sense of the normative implications of modus vivendi in novel ways.