A History of International Political Theory

Behr, Hartmut

doi:10.1057/9780230248380

Cited by 26 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…The meaning of these concepts, however, depends upon the specific historical, cultural, and socio-political contexts of the object and the objectifier and consequently changes. 3 Furthermore, also the works of Maruyama and Morgenthau themselves have to be viewed as ‘historically and politically contingent’ (Behr, 2010: 215). With their work, both scholars did not aim to produce grand theories, but in a self-reflexive process expressed criticism of the rising nationalism during the first half of the twentieth century, which both considered to be one of the major dehumanizing aspects of modernity (Maruyama, 2007: 55; Morgenthau, 1966: 8).…”

Section: Karl Mannheim’s Sociology Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Unlearning modernity: A realist method for critical international relations?

Rösch

2016

Journal of International Political Theory

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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, the article argues that unlearning is an important part of critical realist thinking.

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Section: Karl Mannheim’s Sociology Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Unlearning modernity: A realist method for critical international relations?

Rösch

2016

Journal of International Political Theory

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“…Secondly, it will reflect on the concept's origins in IPT. 2 Locating the concept in IPT, an exercise that has been neglected by the security community literature, enables us to better search for the concept's theoretical grounding, as it is argued in this article, along with other scholars (Behr, 2010;Brown, 1992), that IR theory is ultimately based on and results from concepts of Political and Normative theory. Thirdly, the security community concept will be placed within the context of IR theory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional order and peaceful change: Security communities as a via media in international relations theory

Koschut

2014

Cooperation and Conflict

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The security community concept generally inhabits a rather small niche in the study of International Relations, as the logic of community fundamentally challenges the prevailing logic of anarchy. In this article, it is argued both on ontological and theoretical grounds that the concept's intellectual heritage and depth transcends the boundaries of existing theories. In this sense, the concept of security community serves as a via media by linking different strands of International Relations theory together and by bridging various theoretical gaps. This argument will be developed in two steps. Firstly, it will be shown that the security community framework developed by Karl W Deutsch is deeply rooted in International Political Theory without belonging to one particular branch. By locating the concept in International Political Theory, an exercise that has been neglected by the security community literature; it will be secondly demonstrated that the concept of security community takes the middle ground between specific strands of International Relations theory, as these strands are ultimately based on concepts of moral philosophy.

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“…For the history of the English School, see:(Behr 2010, Dunne 1998, Linklater and Suganami 2006. For an overview of its methods, see:(Navari 2009b(Navari , 2014.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reification in IR: The Process and Consequences of Reifying the Idea of International Society

Kaczmarska

2018

International Studies Review

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This article studies the contentious problem of reification in international relations (IR) on the example of the idea of international society. It shows how the idea became reified, that is, how the move was made from approaching international society as one of several competing frameworks for the study of international politics to considering it an objective fact, a self-evident reality of international politics, and an entity in the possession of agency. For this purpose, I trace key writings of the English school and survey their contribution to the idea’s development and gradual reification. I posit that reification has been the outcome of individual strategies and disciplinary practices pertaining to the knowledge production process, in particular the perceived need to establish and maintain a research program while continuing to provide viable explanations of world events. In discussing the consequences, I argue that reification adversely affects not only research outcomes but also the study process. A reified category, once it becomes a default language through which to think and talk about international politics, narrows down avenues for diverging interpretations of international politics. Furthermore, endowing international society with agency hides real agents behind specific actions in international politics.

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A History of International Political Theory

Cited by 26 publications

References 105 publications

Unlearning modernity: A realist method for critical international relations?

Unlearning modernity: A realist method for critical international relations?

Regional order and peaceful change: Security communities as a via media in international relations theory

Reification in IR: The Process and Consequences of Reifying the Idea of International Society

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