Author
Derick A. Becker
Other affiliations: St. John's University, Augsburg College, University of Connecticut ...read more
Bio: Derick A. Becker is an academic researcher from University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. The author has contributed to research in topics: Foreign policy & International relations. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 14 publications receiving 50 citations. Previous affiliations of Derick A. Becker include St. John's University & Augsburg College.
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: In the years since the end of apartheid, South Africa has emerged from its status as an international pariah to a full fledged member of the international community as mentioned in this paper, riding a wave of new found legitimacy bolstered by a heroic myth surrounding President Mandela.
Abstract: In the years since the end of apartheid, South Africa has emerged from its status as an international pariah to a full fledged member of the international community. Riding a wave of new found legitimacy bolstered by a heroic myth surrounding President Mandela, South Africa began to rethink its role in the world. Perhaps more than Mandela, however, former President Thabo Mbeki laid claim to the title of Africa's spokesman to the world. Mbeki, through his African Renaissance , cast himself as the embodiment of the modern, postcolonial African blending African tradition and symbolism with the rhetoric of free markets and good governance. What this paper argues is that Mbeki's Renaissance highlights both what constitutes legitimate policies and behavior and the role of legitimacy and legitimation itself in international relations.
14 citations
TL;DR: The authors reconcile performative theorizing, which captures the place of systems of thought on foreign policy practice, and broader sociological approaches that link networks and institut..., and propose a sociological approach that links networks and institutions.
Abstract: This paper seeks to reconcile performative theorizing, which captures the place of systems of thought on foreign policy practice, and broader sociological approaches that link networks and institut...
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a synthesis of the embedded state and the neoliberal state theses is proposed to better capture both the character and outcomes of African land acquisitions in two case studies, and Africa at large.
Abstract: As changes to traditional economic power relationships upend the global economy, there is a resurgent interest in Africa’s raw materials by an increasing number of states beyond the traditional post-colonial coterie. These states are not fundamentally altering Africa’s status as a small economic player supplying raw goods to the world. But the level of interest, the states involved, and the changing nature of Africa’s involvement are raising questions about the long-term benefits and consequences of this renewed interest. Of particular concern is the trend in scale and type of commercial agricultural projects where land deals are slowly consuming vast sections of Africa’s agricultural land for export crops. NGOs, a few academics and virtually any news story on the subject inevitably invoke the term neo-colonialism. Our argument, however, is that the neo-colonial thesis – as well as the embedded state and neoliberal state theses taken separately – fail to capture the complexity of African commercial agriculture, particularly in the cases of Ethiopia and Mozambique. Despite ample evidence of massive, opaque land deals, investments do not tend to be restricted in bi-lateral ways nor are the investing parties members of the traditional Western world. While the role of elites is similar to the embedded state thesis, deals are mediated via wider market relations and conditions and justified in neoliberal terms. We propose that a synthesis of these latter theoretical strands better captures both the character and outcomes of African land acquisitions in our two case studies, and Africa at large.
6 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the study of social interaction among states will shed considerable light onto how the international system has developed into its current state. But they also argued that evidence of this ideational/discursive shift predates the end of the Cold War and changed out of step with the steady growth in economic interdependence.
Abstract: This article is motivated by two trends in international relations (IR): the general trend toward global neoliberalism, and the discursive turn in IR scholarship. Neoliberalism, while not fully practised anywhere, has become the dominant discourse and normative measure of economic policy ideas around which policy debates coalesce. This all is the more noticeable among the lesser-developed countries. This article attempts to explain this gradual shift in the global political economy where most discussions centre around a core set of ideas and beliefs about how the system ought to function. Given that evidence of this ideational/discursive shift predates the end of the Cold War and changed out of step with the steady growth in economic interdependence, new approaches are warranted. What is argued here is that the study of social interaction among states will shed considerable light onto how the international system has developed into its current state.
5 citations
Cited by
More filters
Book Chapter•
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this article, Jacobi describes the production of space poetry in the form of a poetry collection, called Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated and unedited.
Abstract: ‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.
7,238 citations
01 Jun 1989
TL;DR: The meaning of Africa and of being African, what is and what is not African philosophy, and is philosophy part of Africanism are the kind of fundamental questions which this book addresses as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: What is the meaning of Africa and of being African? What is and what is not African philosophy? Is philosophy part of Africanism ? These are the kind of fundamental questions which this book addresses. North America: Indiana U Press
1,338 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: New State Spaces as discussed by the authors is a mature and sophisticated analysis of broad interdisciplinary interest, making this a highly significant contribution to the subject of political geographies of the modern state, which has been made in the past few years.
Abstract: Neil Brenner has in the past few years made a major impact on the ways in which we understand the changing political geographies of the modern state Simultaneously analyzing the restructuring of urban governance and the transformation of national states under globalizing capitalism, 'New State Spaces' is a mature and sophisticated analysis of broad interdisciplinary interest, making this a highly significant contribution to the subject
951 citations
742 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather, one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deformation as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and de‹ciency. Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself the enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency. (Ibn al-Haytham)1
512 citations