Ritual and the Life of International Orders

Abstract This commentary on the Special Forum “Ritual Action in World Politics” comes from the perspective of the ethnographic humanities. I offer a definition of ritual as a modality of practice that activates the plane of the sacred by calling attention to social form. I discuss the paradox of ritual agency. I identify some tendencies and affordances of ritual in international relations, based on the distinctive features of international society. I urge attention to the historicity of specific rituals, ritual as a category, and political orders as they condition the impact of specific enactments, and I highlight the evidentiary value of ritual, with the related modalities of play and art, in assessing the present and future of political orders.