Reclaiming the Utopian imaginary in IR theory

Abstract

This article aims to reinvigorate the utopian imagination as a vital and necessary component in IR theory. Since the First Great Debate between the Realists and the

Reclaiming the Vision Thing: Constructivists as Students of the Future1

“…Ironically, as a handful of scholars have noted, re‐reading Carr’s book is a good starting point for bringing utopias back into IR. Contrary to the commonly held view of Carr as the don of anti‐utopianism, he explicitly recognized that utopias are a necessary ingredient of all political thinking (Booth 1991; Boyle 2004; Karp 2008; Brincat 2009). It is important here to note that envisioning the good life does not necessarily mean envisioning a perfect world (Sargent 1982, 2005).…”

“…This does not mean that those formulating the vision are out of touch with “reality” or that the vision is “divorced” from existing conditions. Rather, it shifts attention to the effect utopias have on the human imagination and highlights their importance as sources of productive power, generating a new horizon whose primary function is to inspire and open up new paths into the future which hitherto were considered impossible (Brincat 2009). The reading of utopias as creative is, thus, to highlight that they make things possible; they are able to mobilize practices not embedded in a given historical dynamic but suggest that if something can be imagined, it will inspire confidence that it can be done.…”

“…With this objective, the article is part of a recent move in the humanities bringing renewed attention to the relevance of utopias in social life (Ruesen, Fehr, and Rieger 2005; Jameson 2007; Claeys 2010a; Coverly 2010; Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash 2010). Over the past decade, the field of IR has seen valuable studies on world political conceptions of time (Hutchings 2008), calls to revive the normative potential of utopian thinking (Booth 1991; Crawford 2003; Brincat 2009), and empirical analyses of how visions and future scenarios affect policymaking (Boyle 2004; Neumann and Overland 2004; Callahan 2008; Houghton 2009). This article intends to complement such work by offering a theoretically deep and systematic discussion of why and how visions matter, grounded in an account of human motivation and the process of identity formation.…”

“…9 9 For a recent call to bring the future back into critical/normative theorizing, see Brincat (2009). …”

Interest, passion, (non)recognition, and wars: a conceptual essay

“…In contrast, the pure abstraction of the Other facilitates violence. The 'outsiders, the noncitizens are always misrecognized by the fact that they are not mutually recognizable as insiders' (Brincat 2009a, 51; see also Brincat (2009b)). Everything happens as though the Other had never lived.…”