Lecture 7 Flashcards
What is critical Thoery?
It is bound together by rejection of positivist notion of ‘standing outside’ the object of research,o Reject universal ideas and understandings (democracy) and is framed as an emancipatory project in IR theory, with Frankfurt School, neo-Gramscian theory feminism and post-structuralism as four key strands
What does critial theory aim to be?
To understand historical particularity of current situation, how it came to be, and how it might change (immanent critique)
What are the four most common strands?
- Frankfurt school
- Neo-Gramscian theory
- Femminist critical theory
- Poststructaralism
What is the Frankfurt School?
rejects positivism: you cannot understand the world/external reality as it is
* We cannot perceive the reality outside discourse
rejects ‘immutable’ social structures: they reject the idea that there is anything unchangeable
emphasising social learning: in the absence social learning, society can deteriorate into tyranny or authoritarianism
* importance social learning: tolerance and openness
* If we accept very rigid ideas of what it means to be….. This meaning can be used as an weapon an transform a society into a tyranny.
What is Neo-Gramscian theory?
- recommends ongoing ontological and epistemological reassessment of world order, continuous methodological and theoretical innovation, empirical analysis of ‘real world’, and practically addressing world problems
We have to remain flexible of the world and the way we reflect/ understand it
Differentiate of Frankfurt - Frankfurt: doesn’t focus as much empirical
- Neo-Gramscian: focus on empirical
What is feminist critical theory?
‘theorises the untheorized’, highlights the danger of ‘incuriosity’, and uncovers the gendered nature of international reality (e.g. Enloe’s analysis of tourism, colonialism, nationalism, military bases)
Focus on the role that gender plays in society as an underlying sphere
What is poststructuralism?
The idea of social learning to talk about emancipation
o Emancipation is always connected to the discourse
* Highlight contingency of ontological assumptions
* Rejects causal cause-effect epistemology (post-positivist)
o Not only can’t we perceive the world outside of discourse
o You can’t know where the cause stops and the effects begins: don’t talk in causal terms
* World politics cannot be understood through cause-effect relationships (post-positivist) because there is no non-discursive materiality against which to test causality of discourse
* Constitutive, post-positivist, anti-foundationalist theory with a preference for ‘how-possible’ questions
* Focus on: high politics
o Meaning: themes high on the foreign policy agenda
* Concern for: states’ constructions of threats and enemies
What are Critical Theory Critiques of IR Theory?
- Rejection of structural claims about the international sphere
- Rejection of materialist understanding of international relations
o Postpositivist
o Nothing as GDP etc. - Critiques traditionally dominant IR theories for perpetuating the status quo and privileging existing dominant powers
- Critiques conventional/American constructivism for its inconsistency
o They say that traditional constructivists will accept that norms/values/ideas have effect on policy, but don’t take that to it’s natural conclusion; policy can also have an effect on norms/values/ideas
What is a core assumption of Poststructuralism and Discourse
The core assumption is that nothing exists outside of discourse
o ‘’Discourse is wrapped up in power’’: it’s the power who say what knowledge it is. And it is knowledge that fuels the powerful.
o The way we understand things is influenced by power structures
What is a broad understanding of discourse
Written/spoken word, images, songs, policy, performance
What are the vectors for discourse and identitiy
o Describing self and others
o Done in degrees
o Most often the self is privileged over the other
What is discourse viewed as relational, social and political?
o Discourses take place between people
o Discoursers are interlinked between policy
How is policy and identity ontologically interlinked but theorised in non-causal terms?
o Not to say there isn’t structure, we just can’t deter it.
o Not possible to have fixability or non-fixability discourse is always subject of change
How is it that at the centre of political activity there is construction of link between policy and identity at the centre of political activity ?
Making a policy seem coherent with a certain type of identity
Legitimacy:
* Appealing to a certain type of self and other/ particular notions of self and others
* stems from stability in identity-policy representation with both
Stability
* Internal stability: from being coherent in all aspects of the discourse you describe less coherent = less legitimacy
* External stability: The text, the identity, how does it relate to other discourse. intertextuality
What is Spatial identity?
Sphere of influence, where does a particular part of the world belong.
