ABSTRACT
The commercial is seeping into and being embraced by the fields, themes and methodologies of International Political Sociology (IPS). Drawing attention to the commercial in IPS is not the same as reflecting on its implications for IPS. Indeed, there is all reason to caution against the tendency to assume that commercial is inherently evil. The chapter discusses how and why IPS has an important role to play in tackling one of main contemporary challenges; the commercialization of most things, including IPS. The pervasiveness of the commercial may hamper efforts to investigate its significance either as a theme in its own right or as a part of other themes. International Political Economy would appear to be the one most directly and explicitly dealing with the commercial since it focuses on the economy. Political violence, security and surveillance are fashioned by the constant presence of the commercial either in the guise of consultants, contractors and collaborators and or public administrators turned managers.
