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Showing papers in "Journal of International Political Theory in 2017"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The complexity of transboundary networks and hierarchies, economic sectors, ethnic and religious ties, civil and cross-border wars, and internally disaggregated and transnationally connected state actors leads to a complex and multidimensional restructuring of the global, the local and the uneven connections in between as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Modern International Relations theory has consistently underestimated the depth of the problem of anarchy in world politics. Contemporary theories of globalisation bring this into bold relief. From this perspective, the complexity of transboundary networks and hierarchies, economic sectors, ethnic and religious ties, civil and cross-border wars, and internally disaggregated and transnationally connected state actors, leads to a complex and multidimensional restructuring of the global, the local and the uneven connections in between. We ought to abandon the idea of ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics, ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ once and for all. This does not remove the problem of anarchy but rather deepens it, involving multidimensional tensions and contradictions variously described as ‘functional differentiation’, ‘multiscalarity’, ‘fragmegration’, disparate ‘landscapes’, the ‘new security dilemma’ and ‘neomedievalism’. Approaching anarchy from the perspective of plural competing claims to authority and power forces ...

41 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper revisited two classic, structuralist accounts of international anarchy articulated in Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics (scientific structuralism) and Hedley Bull's Anarchical Society (normative structuralism).
Abstract: The category of anarchy is conventionally associated with the emergence of an autonomous discipline of International Relations (IR). Recently, Donnelly has argued that anarchy has never been central to IR (hierarchy is more weighty). His criticism targets not just concepts of anarchy but theories of anarchy and thereby expresses an anti-theory ethos tacitly accepted in the discipline. As a form of conceptual atomism, this ethos is hostile to structuralist and normative theories. This article aims to reinstate theoretical holism against conceptual atomism and to defend the enduring relevance of theories of international anarchy for IR. This is done by revisiting two classic, structuralist accounts of international anarchy articulated in Kenneth Waltz’s Theory of International Politics (scientific structuralism) and Hedley Bull’s Anarchical Society (normative structuralism). It will be shown that both represent coherent theoretical ‘wholes’ which reveal a more complex relationship between anarchy and hierar...

24 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider convergence between classical realism and critical theory in relation to pressing political problems and argue that the spirit of both traditions can help develop critical theories in political problems.
Abstract: This article considers convergence between classical realism and critical theory in relation to pressing political problems. It argues that the spirit of both traditions can help develop critical r...

23 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The history of the discipline of International Relations is usually narrated as a succession of theories that would pursue different ontologies and epistemologies and focus on different problems as discussed by the authors, but the history of international relations is not narrated in a sequence of theories.
Abstract: The history of the discipline of International Relations is usually narrated as a succession of theories that would pursue different ontologies and epistemologies and focus on different problems. T...

23 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the contradictions between public health protocols and infection containment efforts concerning the Zika virus and reproductive rights are investigated, and women are discriminated in El Salvador, for example, women are...
Abstract: This article investigates the contradictions between public health protocols and infection containment efforts concerning Zika virus and reproductive rights. In El Salvador, for example, women are ...

20 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors undertake a little ground clearing in order to make room in International Relations for thinking differently about anarchy and world politics, and make room for anarchy in international relations.
Abstract: In this introduction to the Special Issue, we undertake a little ground clearing in order to make room in International Relations for thinking differently about anarchy and world politics. Anarchy’...

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Felix Rösch1
TL;DR: This article argued that mid-twentieth century realists pursued a method of unlearning, which is being understood as the critique and moving beyond the modern imaginary which preconditions everyday knowledge and intellectual thought in a dehumanizing way through a learning process based upon the study of classical texts.
Abstract: Recent re-readings of classical realism in International Relations have demonstrated that in their critique of modernity, mid-twentieth century realists put their focus on the development of a (self)critical and sceptical epistemology, a focus that often has been of little concern to other International Relations theories. So far, however, this debate on classical realism has not further elaborated realist methodologies, although this has the potential to make the current theoretical debate more accessible for empirical investigations. To this end, this article argues that mid-twentieth century realists pursued a method of unlearning. Unlearning is being understood as the critique and moving beyond the modern imaginary which preconditions everyday knowledge and intellectual thought in a dehumanizing way through a learning process based upon the study of classical texts. Examining the work of Hans Morgenthau, and the evocative if generally under-appreciated writings of the Japanese thinker Maruyama Masao, ...

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argued that Mitrany's international thought is not usually associated with the concept of international anarchy, and argued that his analysis actually compares two forms of anarchical order, i.e., anarchy and normality.
Abstract: Although David Mitrany’s international thought is not usually associated with the concept of the international anarchy, I argue that his analysis actually compares two forms of anarchical order. Th...

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is only in the early decades of the twentieth century that the "Hobbesian state of nature" and the "discourse of anarchy" came to be seen as virtually synonymous as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: It is only in the early decades of the twentieth century that the “Hobbesian state of nature” and the “discourse of anarchy” came to be seen as virtually synonymous. In examining Hobbes’ internatio...

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of international relations theory but as conventionally defined they cannot describe political life for most of Western history as discussed by the authors, and neither concept descr...
Abstract: Anarchy and hierarchy are two central concepts of international relations theory but as conventionally defined they cannot describe political life for most of Western history. Neither concept descr ...

13 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that classical realism is conspicuously similar to critical international relations, but they do not challenge the observation that both approaches are comparable when it comes to ethical concerns and a related critique of modernity.
Abstract: While a number of scholars argue that classical realism is conspicuously similar to critical international relations, this article takes an issue with such an interpretation. It does not challenge the observation that both approaches are comparable when it comes to ethical concerns and a related critique of modernity, but it puts forth an argument that they differ fundamentally when it comes to their basic intellectual motivation and purpose. This also makes classical realism more ready to formulate normative judgment. To articulate what provides for the ethical impetus in classical realism, the study turns to the work of Stephen Turner and his collaborators who illuminate Weberian sources of classical realist social science. Adopting the category of analyticism from Patrick Jackson, it further puts forth that normative judgment is linked to classical realism’s inherent ontological doubt, a feature it compensates for by focusing on epistemology necessitating constant engagement with empirical reality as a...

Journal ArticleDOI
Timothy W. Luke1
TL;DR: The authors explored conceptual conflicts embedded in the thematic grounding of classical realism to establish conditions of consistent normality in human political behaviour for realist analysis, and found that these conflicts can be used to identify the root causes of human political behavior.
Abstract: This study explores conceptual conflicts embedded in the thematic grounding of classical realism To establish conditions of consistent normality in human political behaviour for realist analysis,

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Critique is a driving force not only for the development of political ideas and concepts but also for protecting humane and democratic politics against the perils of epistemic and political ideologists.
Abstract: Critique is a driving force not only for the development of political ideas and concepts but also for protecting humane and democratic politics against the perils of epistemic and political ideolog...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper argued that the collective right to self-determination advocated by indigenous peoples for the sake of cultural integrity is inconsistent with the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individualism, as endorsed by liberal theorists.
Abstract: This article considers whether the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individualism, as endorsed by liberal theorists, can function as a fair universal legal regime. This question is examined in relation to the collective right to self-determination demanded by indigenous peoples, who are paradigmatic decent nonliberal peoples. Indigenous peoples’ collective right to self-determination has been internationally recognized in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2007. This historic event may seem to exemplify the international legal human rights system’s ability to function as a truly global legal regime applicable cross-culturally to all well-ordered societies, whether liberal or nonliberal. The article argues, however, that the collective right to self-determination advocated by indigenous peoples for the sake of cultural integrity is inconsistent with the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individua...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that contemporary theories of collective intentionality force us to think about anarchy in new and challenging ways, and they argue that in the years since Wendt declared the state a person, t...
Abstract: In this article, I argue that contemporary theories of collective intentionality force us to think about anarchy in new and challenging ways. In the years since Wendt declared the state a person, t...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argues that anarchy is undertheorized in international relations, and that the under-theorization of the concept of anarchy in International Relations is rooted in Waltz's original discussio...
Abstract: This article argues anarchy is undertheorized in International Relations, and that the undertheorization of the concept of anarchy in International Relations is rooted in Waltz’s original discussio...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors contrast Schmitt's approach with that of his contemporary Alexandre Kojeve, who envisioned the integration of world society through economy, law, technology, and administration, a perspective not unfamiliar to the original story of Eu...
Abstract: While celebrated for bringing peace and prosperity to the region, European integration has been recently challenged by various internal and external crises that call the progressivist narrative of ever closer—and larger—union into question. Torn between regional community and global society, particularism and cosmopolitanism, and politics and technocracy, the European Union appears beset by fundamental tensions. In search of a different theoretical perspective on “the crisis,” some commentators have drawn on Carl Schmitt’s political theory to emphasize key issues concerning political decisions, identities, and boundaries in Europe. Yet, Schmitt comes with his own blind spots. For the purpose of a critical engagement with Schmitt’s potential insights and their limits, this article contrasts his approach with that of his contemporary Alexandre Kojeve, who envisioned the integration of world society through economy, law, technology, and administration, a perspective not unfamiliar to the original story of Eu...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role of anarchy in state securitisation is investigated, and the authors discuss state hierarchies' struggle with active and reactive anarchic networks, theorising a state in existential...
Abstract: This article investigates the role of ‘anarchy’ in state securitisation. First, we discuss state hierarchies’ struggle with active and reactive anarchic networks, theorising a state in existential ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors compare and contrast Gandhi's and Fanon's views on violence by placing these ideas within a larger framework of how each viewed the Self and its relationship with the Other, and argue...
Abstract: This article compares and contrasts Gandhi’s and Fanon’s views on violence by placing these ideas within a larger framework of how each viewed the Self and its relationship with the Other. I argue ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a theoretical explanation of the patterns of violence and distribution of conflict in contemporary world, which combines the international political thought of Carl Schmitt with the theory of this paper.
Abstract: This article develops a theoretical explanation of the patterns of violence and distribution of conflict in contemporary world. It combines the international political thought of Carl Schmitt with ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for the "inclusive" advantage of John Rawls's The Law of Peoples through a critical engagement with the political development of modern China, and reveal that there has already existed a school of Chinese political thought that will incorporate China into the Law of People as a decent Confucian-inspired society and that such a society will accept its global responsibility designated by the duty of assistance yet reject a global difference principle in the global original position.
Abstract: In this essay, I argue for the “inclusive” advantage of John Rawls’s The Law of Peoples through a critical engagement with the political development of modern China. I start by introducing some recent developments in contemporary Chinese political theory, showing why it is now theoretically difficult to imagine that China can be incorporated into a liberal international order as a liberal society. In the main body of the essay, I conduct a comparative study of Joseph Chan’s Confucian perfectionism, a Confucian-inspired political theory embedded in Chinese cultural tradition and constructed for modern China, and the Law of Peoples. The purpose is to reveal (a) that there has already existed a school of Chinese political thought that will incorporate China into the Law of Peoples as a decent Confucian-inspired society and (b) that such a society will accept its global responsibility designated by the duty of assistance yet reject a global difference principle in the global original position. I conclude by s...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Weber's corpus is characterized by four tensions: the epistemological between subjective values and objective knowledge, the sociological between social rationalization and irrational myths, the po... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Weber’s corpus is characterized by four tensions: the epistemological between subjective values and objective knowledge, the sociological between social rationalization and irrational myths, the po...