Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mainstream Perspectives
Realism
People: essentially selfish & competitive; egoism – defining characteristic of human nature
o Egoism: concern for one’s own interest or wellbeing; selfishness; belief that one’s own
interests are morally superior to others
State: system operates in a context of international anarchy; no authority higher than sovereign
state
Classical Realism – form of realism that explains power politics largely in terms of human selfishn-
ess/egoism
Neorealism/Structural Realism – perspective on international politics that modifies the power
politics model by highlighting the structural constraints of the international system; focus on anarchy
o Machiavelli – humans = insatiable, savage; political life = inevitable strife, political leaders to
rule using cunning, cruelty and manipulation
o Hobbes – humans driven by non-rational appetites (aversion, fear, hopes, desire –
strongest: desire for power);
o state of nature: a society devoid of political authority and of formal checks on
individual; only way to escape is by creating state
o International ‘state of nature’: No form of world gov’t can be established
o State = most important actor in world stage; coherent & cohesive unit
o States – led by people who are inherently selfish; characteristics exhibit in state behavior
o International politics – inevitable competition and rivalry
o Ultimate concern: survival
o Statecraft: art of conducting public affairs, or the skills associated with statesmanship
o Six principles of Political Realism
Politics governed by objective laws
International Politics – interest in terms of power
Forms and nature of state power will vary, but interest is consistent
Universal moral principles don’t guide state behavior
No universal moral principles
Political sphere – autonomous; How does this policy affect the power of the nation?
o Concern about national interest: foreign policy goals, objectives or policy preferences that
supposedly benefit a society as a whole
o Defect of classical realism – couldn’t explain behavior at a level above state; limitation of
any endogenous/’inside-out’ theory
o Kenneth Waltz – three levels of analysis
The Human Individual
The State
The International System
o Systems theory | neorealism – behavior of states in terms of the structure of the
international system; exogenous
An approach to study that focuses on works of ‘systems’, explaining their operation
and development in terms of reciprocal interactions amongst component parts
o Reasons for Conflict
Self-help – states must rely on their own resources to realize their interests
A state’s reliance on its own capacities and resources, rather than external
support, to ensure security and survival
Security dilemma – relationships amongst states characterized by uncertainty and
suspicion
Building up the military (self-help) may be seen as hostile
All states = enemies; insecurity
The dilemma that arises from the fact that a build-up of military capacity for
defensive reasons by one state is always liable to be interpreted as
aggressive by other states
Relative gains – maintaining/improving position relative to states
Although all states may benefit from a particular action, each state is more
worried about whether other states benefit more than it does
The position of states in relation to one another, reflected in the distribution of
benefits and capabilities between and amongst them
Liberalism
Neoliberalism
o perspective on int’l politics that remodeled liberalism in light of the challenge of realism,
particularly neorealism; emphasis on scope for cooperative behavior w/in int’l system
while not denying its anarchic character
Democratization
o transition from authoritarianism to liberal democracy, reflected in the granting of basic
freedoms and political rights, the establishment of competitive elections and introduction
of market reforms/
Critical Perspectives
Social constructivism
Poststructuralism
Postmodernism
An intellectual tradition that is based on the belief that truth is always
contested and plural; sometimes summed up as ‘an incredulity towards
metanarratives’
All ideas and concepts are expressed in language which itself is enmeshed in
complex relations of power
link between power and systems of thought – discourse/ discourses of power’
Discourse: Human interaction, especially communication; discourse may
disclose or illustrate power relations.
knowledge is power
Jacques Derrida: There is nothing outside the text
Growing influence on int’l relations theory
Draw attention to fact that any political event will always be susceptible to
competing interpretations
Classical poststructuralist approach to exposing hidden meaning in particular
concepts, theories, and interpretations – deconstruction
Deconstruction: A close reading of philosophical or other texts with an eye
to their various blindspots and/or contradictions.
Criticism – relativism, hold different modes of knowing are equally valied & reject
idea that even science can distinguish truth and falsehood
Post-positivist approaches – critical theory, constructivism, poststruc,
feminism these approaches question belief of objective reality separate
from beliefs, ideas and assumptions of the observer
Feminism
Green politics
Central theme: notion of intrinsic link bet. Humankind and nature, sometimes
linked to Gaia hypothesis
Mainstream / reformist green thinking – develop balance bet. Modernization &
econ growth, and need to tackle envi degradation
Key theme: sustainable development
Radical – balance bet. Humankind and nature will only be restored by radical
social change
Eco-socialists – env crisis bc capitalist economic system – commodified nature
and draws it into sys of markt xchge
Eco-feminist – env critique of male power, domination over women leads to dom
ov nature
Deep ecologists – only paradigm change will end env degr
green ideological perspective rehecting anthropocentrism and prioritizes
maintenance of nature; associated with values such as bio-equality,
diversity and decentralization
paradigm change – adoption of rad new philo and moral perspec based
on rad holism than conven mechanistic and atomistic thinking
radical holism: The belief that the whole is more than a collection of
parts; holism implies that understanding is gained by recognizing the
relationships amongst the parts.
Postcolonialism