Transformative Contextual Realism

Abstract

Realist political theory is often confronted with the objection that it is biased towards the status quo. Although this criticism overlooks the fact that realist political theories contain various resources for critique, a realist approach that is strong in status quo critique and contributes, constructively, to the theorising of alternatives to the status quo is a desideratum. The article argues that contextual realism, which sources its normativity from particular contexts, harbours an underexploited potential to establish such a form of political theorising. By drawing on ideas and principles that have guided critical engagements with social and political forms in a particular context, and on widely shared views of need for reform, realists can identify deficits of the status quo and contribute to a debate on how these deficits might be addressed. This article describes and illustrates the idea of a transformative contextual realism, and defends it against some potential objections.

Taking rulers' interests seriously: The case for realist theories of legitimacy

“…Each of these two functions may also give rise to a third: perhaps the most valuable practical contribution ruler-interested theories can make is that they can tell us something about the limitations of what is both possible and desirable under a particular political arrangement (Westphal 2021). If a theory can tell us that a certain ruler R 1 must do X in order to preserve her legitimacy, this not only tells us that R 1 may be likely to do X and unlikely to be open to being persuaded not to do X; it also tells us that, unless we plan to create a legitimation crisis that will produce very different political circumstances, it may be highly undesirable to try to cause R 1 not to do X, however morally objectionable we might find her doing X to be.…”