Critical international relations theory

Critical international relations theory is a diverse set of schools of thought in international relations (IR) that have criticized the theoretical, meta-theoretical and/or political status quo, both in IR theory and in international politics more broadly — from positivist as well as postpositivist positions. Positivist critiques include Marxist and neo-Marxist approaches and certain ("conventional") strands of social constructivism. Postpositivist critiques include poststructuralist, postcolonial, "critical" constructivist, critical theory (in the strict sense used by the Frankfurt School), neo-Gramscian, most feminist, and some English School approaches, as well as non-Weberian historical sociology,^[1] "international political sociology", "critical geopolitics", and the so-called "new materialism"^[2] (partly inspired by actor–network theory). All of these latter approaches differ from both realism and liberalism in their epistemological and ontological premises.

Such theories are now widely recognized and taught and researched in many universities, but are less common in the United States. They are taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in many major universities outside the US, where a major concern is that "a myopic discipline of IR might contribute to the continued development of a civil society in the U.S. that thinks, reflects and analyzes complex international events through a very narrow set of theoretical lenses"^[3]

See also

• Feminism (international relations)
• Postcolonialism (international relations)
• Postmodernism (international relations)

References

1. See e.g. Stephen Hobden and John M. Hobson (eds.), Historical Sociology of International Relations. Cambridge University Press (2002).
2. See e.g. Iris van der Tuin and Rick Dolphijn, New Materialism: Interviews and Cartographies. Open Humanities Press (2012); Diana Coole and Samantha Frost (eds.), New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Politics. Duke University Press (2010); William E. Connolly, "The 'New Materialism' and the Fragility of Things", Millennium 41, 3 (2013).
3. Smith, Steve (2002). "The United States and the Discipline of International Relations: Hegemonic Country, Hegemonic Discipline?". International Studies Review. 4 (2): 67–86. doi:10.1111/1521-9488.00255.

Bibliography

• Critical Theory and International Relations: A Reader, ed. Steven C. Roach, Routledge, 2007, ISBN 0-415-95419-3
• Women, Culture, and International Relations (Critical Perspectives on World Politics) ed. By Vivienne Jabri, Eleanor O'Gorman, Lynne Rienner Publishers, US, 1999, ISBN 1-55587-701-X
• Campell, David & George, Jim, 1990. ‘ Patterns of Dissent and the Celebration of Difference: Critical Social Theory and International Relations’, International Studies Quarterly Vol 34, 1990: 269-293.
• Cox, Robert W, 2001. ‘The Way Ahead: Toward n New Ontology of World Order’, in Wyn Jones, Richard, ed, Critical Theory & World Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Lyenner Rienner.
• Devetak, Richard, 2005. ‘Critical Theory’, in Burchill, Scott et al., Theories of International Relations, Third Edition. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Jenny Edkins, Poststructuralism & International Relations: Bringing the Political Back in (Critical Perspectives on World Politics), Lynne Rienner Publishers, US, 1999, ISBN 1-55587-845-8
• Cynthia Enloe, The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire (Paperback), University of California Press 2004, ISBN 0-520-24381-1
• Jim George, Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical Introduction to International Relations, Lynne Rienner Publishers, US, 1994, ISBN 1-55587-446-0
• Emin Fuat Keyman, Globalization, State, Identity/Difference: Toward a Critical Social Theory of International Relations, Prometheus Books, 1997, ISBN 1-57392-605-1
• Linklater, Andrew, 1986. ‘Realism, Marxism and critical international theory’, Review of International Studies Vol 12, 1986: 301-312.
• Linklater, Andrew, 1992. ‘The Question of the Next Stage in International Relations Theory: A Critical-Theoretical Point of View’, Millennium Vol 21, No 1, 1992: 77-98.
• Linklater, Andrew, 1996. ‘The achievements of critical theory’, in Booth, Ken, Smith, Steve & Zalewski, Marysia, eds, International Theory: Positivism and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Linklater, Andrew, 1997. ‘The transformation of political community: E.H.Carr, critical theory and international relations’, Review of International Studies Vol 23, 1997: 321-338.
• Carne Ross, Independent Diplomat: Despatches from an Unaccountable Elite (Crisis in World Politics), C. Hurst & Co, 2007, ISBN 1-85065-843-9
• Christine Sylvester, Feminist international relations: an unfinished journey. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 2002
• Cynthia Weber, International Relations Theory. A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis, 2004, ISBN 0-415-34208-2