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Faria, Junior Luiz Carlos Silva. "A batalha de Davi contra Golias: uma análise neogramsciana da agenda das Nações Unidas em direitos humanos e empresas." Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), 2015. https://repositorio.ufjf.br/jspui/handle/ufjf/3839.
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Este trabalho tem por objetivo realizar uma análise da Agenda das Nações Unidas na área de Direitos Humanos e Empresas. Para tal, utiliza-se da analogia bíblica da batalha entre Golias e Davi, estando de um lado o capital global na figura das empresas transnacionais e do outro uma aliança de proteção e defesa dos Direitos Humanos, composta por organizações não governamentais, coletivos e movimentos sociais, ativistas e outros atores. A análise pretendida se constrói sob orientação da Teoria Neogramsciana de Relações Internacionais, propondo-se a desenvolver uma perspectiva histórica e crítica aos processos em curso atualmente na ONU na implementação de um marco normativo internacional para responsabilização de empresas transnacionais por violações de Direitos Humanos, quais sejam o Grupo de Trabalho das Nações Unidas sobre Empresas e Direitos Humanos e os fóruns internacionais organizados anualmente para debate da temática, e o Tratado Internacional na área, que teve processo de elaboração deflagrado em junho de 2014 com a aprovação da Resolução 26/9 no Conselho de Direitos Humanos da ONU.
This paper aims to realize an analysis of the United Nations Agenda on Human Rights and Business. With this purpose, it uses the biblical analogy of the battle between Golias and David, standing in one side the global capital, represented by the transnational corporations and, at the other side, a global alliance for human rights defense and protection, composed of NGOs, social collectives and movements, activists and other actors. The intended analysis is built under orientation of the Neogramscian Theory of International Relations, and proposes to develop a historical and critical perspective of the current processes at the UN for the implementation of an international normative mark to have transnational corporations accountable for human rights violations. These processes are the activities of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the international forums organized annually to debate the theme, and the International Treaty, which had its elaboration process triggered in June 2014 with the approval of the Resolution 26/9 at the UN Human Rights Council.
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Cox, Wayne S. "A crisis in conflict for international relations, the case of the Turkish/Kurdish War through neogramscian lenses." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ52815.pdf.
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Dedrick, John Robert. "Gramsci and International Relations Theory." W&M ScholarWorks, 1988. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625465.
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Savage, Michael. "Sovereignty and international relations theory." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14460.
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Akdenizli, Dilek. "Critical Theory, Deliberative Democracy And International Relations Theory." Master's thesis, METU, 2005. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12606881/index.pdf.
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In the 20th century, Critical Theory has been very influential on every discipline of social sciences including international relations. According to Critical IR Theory, traditional theories are problem solving and try to explain repetition and recurrence, rather than changehowever, the main subject matter of an IR theory should be the change itself. The idea of change is also constitutive of Habermasian political thought. Jü
rgen Habermas, as a critical theorist, has developed the model of Deliberative Democracy to provoke a change in the political life of the Western countries towards a more ethical politics. According to Habermas, such a change will eliminate the legitimacy crisis occurred in Western democracies. Therefore, Habermas aims at strengthening the moral basis of democratic understanding in order to make masses participate actively in decision making processes. According to him, rational consensus must be at the centre of democracy, and it can be reached, only if every part of the deliberation has the opportunity to express their arguments equally. Once the idea of rational consensus becomes a regulative rule of democracy, it is possible to change the nature of politics, including international politics
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Heath, Amelia. "Reconsidering E.H.Carr and International Relations Theory." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.519464.
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Lomas, Peter. "On the Normative Theory of International Relations." Thesis, University of Dundee, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.500644.
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Neufeld, Mark A. (Mark Alan) Carleton University Dissertation Political Science. "Toward a restructuring of international relations theory." Ottawa, 1990.
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SOUZA, NATALIA MARIA FELIX DE. "CRISIS AND CRITIQUE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2017. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=36376@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
PROGRAMA DE DOUTORADO SANDUÍCHE NO EXTERIOR
A tese investiga as narrativas de crise e crítica na trajetória das teorias de relações internacionais, a fim de compreender como o atual debate acerca do fim ou crise da disciplina expõe os limites paradoxos da crítica neste campo. Para tanto, a tese está dividida em dois movimentos estruturantes. No primeiro movimento (Capítulos 2 a 4), questiona-se as atuais narrativas da crise teórica em sua trajetória histórica e conceitual, a fim de debater suas implicações políticas e axiológicas. No segundo movimento (Capítulos 5 a 7), explora-se o status teórico das narrativas críticas contemporâneas, a tendência para a análise crítica incorrer em dogmatismo, e a possibilidade de resistir o potencial dogmático das narrativas de crise nas relações internacionais. De maneira geral, a análise apresenta crise e crítica como diferentes possibilidades de articular a política moderna, apoiadas em pressupostos distintos sobre (i) temporalidade, (ii) soberania, e (iii) conhecimento. Consequentemente, a tese argumenta que os pontos mais vulneráveis das narrativas de crise na política internacional se dão em relação aos limites do sujeito do conhecimento e da política soberana de amigos e inimigos. Nesse contexto, uma abordagem mais efetivamente crítica da política deve oferecer um enquadramento distinto do problema, no qual o sujeito estético abra a possibilidade de buscar formas de universalidade que se baseiem em uma afirmação mais profunda da diferença e da pluralidade, bem como em um maior entendimento dos limites das narrativas - mesmo as mais progressistas - sobre o sujeito soberano do conhecimento. Esse argumento aponta para a necessidade de as teorias de relações internacionais irem além de si mesmas.
The dissertation investigates the narratives of crisis and critique expressed at significant moments in the history of international relations theory in order to explain how recent debates on the end or crisis of international relations theory expose the paradoxical limits of critique in this field. The dissertation is structured by two organizing movements. The first movement, Chapters 2-4, examines the recent debates about a crisis of theorizing, placing them in their historical and conceptual context, and highlighting their axiological and political stakes. The second movement, Chapters 5-7, explores the contemporary theoretical status of claims to critique, the tendency for critical analysis to relapse into dogma, and the possibility of resisting the dogmatic potential of narratives of crisis in international relations. The overall analysis presents crisis and critique as two different possibilities of framing modern politics, predicated on diverging assumptions about (i) temporality, (ii) sovereignty, and (iii) knowledge. As a consequence, the dissertation argues that the points at which claims about crisis and international politics become most vulnerable to dogmatic tendencies occur in relation to the limits of the subject of knowledge and the sovereign politics of friends and enemies. A more effectively critical approach to politics in this context must work through a different framing in which the aesthetic subject may pursue claims to universality that rest on much stronger affirmations of difference and plurality and a much greater awareness of the limits of established and even progressive accounts of a sovereign subject of knowledge. Thus international relations theory must consider what it means to go beyond itself.
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Cochran, Molly. "Normative theory in international relations : a pragmatic approach /." Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1999. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/librarytitles/Doc?id=10014908.
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Light, Margot. "The Soviet theory of international relations, 1917-1982." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1986. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/804213/.
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Keyman, Emin Fuat Carleton University Dissertation Political Science. "Mapping international relations theory: beyond universalism and objectivism." Ottawa, 1991.
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Höne, Katharina E. "The state-as-person in international relations theory." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/54497619-3732-4c32-9e94-9f1ec24df449.
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Having identified a prevalence of the discipline to treat the state as a person, the thesis critically engages with the idea of psychological state personhood in IR, prominently put forward by Alexander Wendt. As a result, an alternative conception in the form of the constructed state-as-person is suggested which argues that the state-as-person is best understood as a metaphor and utilises constructionist psychology to point out that self and emotions are best located at the discursive level. In contrast to Wendt, who insists on the reality of the state-as-person, this thesis argues that the state is a real social structure which is made intelligible through the idea of state personhood. Agency firmly rests with individual human beings, acting alone or in groups. Concepts such as the state-as-person become relevant when they engage in the production and reproduction of the social structure. Wendt's position on the role of metaphors and his conception of psychological personhood are areas in which this thesis suggests an alternative perspective. It is argued that metaphors are more than figures of speech and need to be taken seriously as theory-constitutive elements in IR scholarship. Constructionist psychology is utilised to present an alternative vision of how people make sense of themselves and how self and emotions are created discursively. In this regard this thesis aligns itself with the 'emotional turn' in the discipline to argue against the dichotomous treatment of rationality and emotions and to suggest that emotions should be treated as forms of knowledge. With the constructed state-as-person, this thesis presents an account of the state that allows for theorising about self and emotions of states. With regard to systemic interactions, this thesis points to the importance of culturally specific concepts of self and emotions and, ultimately, suggests that anarchy is what we make of it.
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Ruggles, James Jonathan. "Transitions in international relations theory: Realism to transnationalism." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1991. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/759.
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Mantle, Deborah J. "Critical green political theory and international relations theory : compatability or conflict?" Thesis, Keele University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.301163.
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Dunne, Timothy. "International relations theory in Britain : the invention of an international society tradition." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260686.
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Griffiths, Martin. "Towards realism in international political theory : a defense." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/30585.
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In the discipline of International Relations, the term "realism" has been severed from its association with ordinary usage, and is attributed to a school of thought according to which international politics is essential1y an asocial realm of conflict and struggles for security and power among states in an anarchical environment. The two main post-war theorists associated with this approach are Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz. This thesis argues, contrary to conventional wisdom, that realism is not a meaningless term in common parlance, nor is it redundant as an attribute of thought about international politics. I argue that it has been inappropriately applied to the work of these two "grand theorists" whose approach does not merit the label. Instead, this dissertation concludes that they are more appropriately characterised as idealists. In contrast to Morgenthau and Waltz, whose work suffers from the shortcomings of (in Morgenthau's case) nostalgic idealism and (in Waltz's case) complacent idealism, I argue that what is referred to as the "Grotian" approach to the study of international politics is more deserving of the label "realism."
The argument is explicitly based on the interpretation of the meaning of the terms "political realism" and "political idealism" contained in Robert Berki's book, On Political Realism (London, 1981). Consistent with the logic of ordinary usage, Berki argues that realism is an attribute of thought which presupposes that "reality" is the dialectical interplay between
necessity and freedom, constraints and opportunities. Idealism, in contrast, is the ontological denial of this presupposition, and the reification of either necessity or freedom. These abstractions are then imposed upon political practice leading to an evaluative stance of nostalgia and complacency, or revolution (the "idealism of imagination"). Realism transcends the false bifurcation between these extremes.
In light of Berki 's analysis, Hedley Bull's theoretical approach to international politics - which recognizes its heterogeneity as a social and "rule-governed" domain - is defended as a more realistic starting-point for thinking systematically about the source and nature of order among states than that provided by either Morgenthau or Waltz.Arts, Faculty of
Political Science, Department of
Graduate
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Owuor, Elijah Medego. "Theory of international law basic human rights conception of the international law /." restricted, 2008. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05192008-125514/.
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Thesis (B.A. Honors)--Georgia State University, 2008.Title from file title page. Robert Sattelmeyer, Andrew Jason Cohen, committee members. Electronic text (34 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed October 26, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34).
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Tekelioglu, Ahmet Selim. "International Relations Theory And The International Relations Of The Middle East: A State Of The Field Study." Master's thesis, METU, 2009. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610244/index.pdf.
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ABSTRACT
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY AND THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST: A STATE OF THE FIELD STUDY
Tekelioglu, Ahmet Selim
M.Sc., Department of International Relations
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Meliha AltuniSik
January 2009, 82 pages
This thesis analyzes the level of interaction between International Relations theories and the literature on the international relations of the Middle East. The disciplines- area studies controversy is analyzed in a way to account for the low level of cooperation between International Relations as an academic discipline and Middle East studies. The thesis looks into the literature in order to demonstrate to what extent developments in International Relations theories informed the study of the international relations of the Middle East. The thesis emphasizes the need for a normative/ critical aprroach in order to overcome the bridge beween these fields caused by epistemological and methodological as well as by the political economy of scholarship informed by ideological rivalries.
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Rogers, Donald J. "Taking theory seriously, pragmatism, truth, and the foundations of international relations theory." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0004/MQ45118.pdf.
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Hoadley, Colin Stephen. "An archaeology of poststructural intent in international relations." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.271774.
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This thesis is a critique of Critical Social Theory from a post-structural perspective. It considers its contribution to the vision of Skinner, Pocock, Foucault and Derrida and argues against the juxtaposition of modern language and concepts with postmodern themes, as a proximity, which suggests an authentic postmodemity and so critical social theorists as 'better knowers'. It argues that critical social theory is a hermeneutic approach, which tears texts of the past apart to reveal what they were 'really saying'. This, it argues implies an objectivism which sustains that access. An objective theory which, permits, it argues, an indictment of a bad or wrong Realist approach in international relations in favour of a "more authentic" poststructural understanding of the discipline. The thesis then concludes that the problem is the 'instrumental' use of poststructural concepts to liberate the oppressed from a tradition, which constrains poststructuralism, but from which critical social theory must consequently 'step away'. So that critical social theory violates the tenets ofpoststructuralism. Finally, it observes how this approach appears little changed from its intellectual heritage in critical theory as the political determination of the approach, and how this common heritage has led to a common approach within the discipline.
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Talbut, Stephanie Lynne. "Threat construction : international relations theory and the 'rogue' state." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.534843.
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Bishai, Linda Suzanne. "Secession and the theory & practice of international relations." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1999. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1546/.
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Secession has been noticeably absent from International Relations theory although its role in the creation and recognition of states is clearly relevant. Traditionally, the dominant perspectives in IR have not questioned state formation and this has effectively barred secession as a topic since it cannot be thoroughly treated without looking across the inside/outside divide of state sovereignty. Secession must be placed in its historical context-as a phenomenon only possible in the modern era and only perceived as a global threat in this century. Theorists from other disciplines who have discussed secession have relied on a problem-solving theoretical perspective which has kept them from considering secession as an outcome of problematic assumptions about identity and territory in the international system. In contrast, a critical theoretical perspective, which affirms the constitutive processes of historical discourse allows an analysis of secession which exposes the contingency of its basic assumptions. Historicising the territorial state allows us to recognise the different structures of political power through which we have already passed and thus to theorise about different forms for the future. The secessionist imperative narrates the boundaries of a specific people who must be secured by a territorial state. Textual analysis of secessionist documents reveals that the narrative strategies they employ are exclusionist and historically short-sighted. Recognising identity as a continuous and relational process is a necessary step towards a post-territorialist order. If different forms of political space are practiced, democracy must also be re-theorised. There is no single model which can guarantee peaceful democratic politics since ambiguity and conflict are inherent in the political process itself and must be encouraged. However, an understanding of the intersubjective processes through which we have generated our present day politics of territory and identity can open up the theoretical space required for alternative politics.
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Kurki, Milja Helena. "Rethinking the concept of cause in international relations theory." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/c7d75d4d-d2d4-40ba-a777-f22b79168dc2.
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This thesis seeks to analyse and rethink the treatment of the concept of cause in contemporary International Relations theorising. It is argued that International Relations theorising, in line with the dominant philosophical traditions in twentieth century philosophy of science and social science, is deeply informed by an empiricist `Humean' philosophy of causation. The acceptance of Humean assumptions concerning causation leads to an array of meta-theoretical and theoretical problems in the discipline, notably to the dichotomisation of `causal' and `non-causal' approaches and the tendencies towards theoretical reductionism. The thesis seeks to rethink the Humean framing of causation through `deepening' and 'broadening' the meaning of the concept of cause. Causation is given ontological grounding through following the insights of philosophical realism. The ontological deepening of the concept of cause allows us to overcome some of the key methodological, epistemological and ontological problems of the `rationalist' causal theorists in International Relations, while avoiding the anti-causal conclusions of the `reflectivist' theorists. Moreover, it is argued that through revisiting the Aristotelian philosophy of causation we can develop more nuanced understandings of the different ways in which social causes work and, crucially, interact. It is argued that broadening the concept of cause allows us to conceptualise not just `pushing and pulling' causes, but also `constraining and enabling' conditioning causes. The deeper and broader account of cause allows us to deal with some of the central metatheoretical and theoretical problems that Humeanism has given rise to in International Relations theorising. The causal-constitutive theory dichotomy can be seen as misleading. Also, through adopting the philosophical and conceptual tools advanced here, International Relations theorising can be directed towards more ontologically holistic, methodologically pluralist and epistemologically reflective causal analyses of world politics.
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Orsi, Davide. "Civil association and international society : Michael Oakeshott's political philosophy of international relations." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2014. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/70045/.
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This thesis contends that Oakeshott’s political philosophy contributes to constructivism in International Relations by identifying the moral foundations of international society and law. The epistemological basis of this contribution is a methodological holism that is defended through arguments developed within British Absolute idealism. The opposition between concrete and abstract concepts grounds a theory in which knowledge is conditional because it is constructed on certain assumptions or postulates. Philosophy identifies and interrogates the postulates, exposes their limited value and maintains the logical autonomy of the various forms of knowledge, from a universal point of view. The concepts of tradition and moral practice are central in Oakeshott’s political philosophy, and indicate a theory of normativity in which moral reasoning and political activity are a form of argumentative discourse constructed by starting from the assumptions shared within a certain community. In this light, Oakeshott is compared to the exponents of the English School and to constructivism because of his definition of an interpretative approach, in which world politics is a normative engagement and the role of theory is to consider its presuppositions as well as its universal meaning. Moreover, it is shown that he offers a comprehensive theory of the evolution of international society and of the role of war that is consistent with his broader political philosophy. The theory of ‘civil association’ is the ground for an understanding of international society as an association between states constituted by the recognition of moral constraints on the actions of states. These constraints are institutionalised in customary international law, which is understood as a moral practice. Therefore, international society is grounded on an evolving morality resulting from the historical conduct of states. As such, Oakeshott’s political philosophy provides an understanding of international relations that is distinct from both Realism and Universalism.
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O'Casey, Elizabeth. "A theory of need in international political theory : autonomy, freedom, and a global obligation." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/558/.
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The thesis is concerned with the nature of human action presupposed by normative theory; it is about recognising and articulating the fragility of the human within the context of human needs and assumptions made by international ethical theory. The primary aim of the thesis is to establish the existence of two basic needs necessary for moral action, to determine a global obligation to enable the meeting of those needs, and to articulate a necessary reconceptualisation of the state system in line with the demands of that obligation. The thesis makes this argument in three parts. By exploring and revealing the vulnerability and finitude of the individual actor, looking at the notion and language of ‘need’, and demonstrating what is involved in being held morally responsible, Part One seeks to provide an objective and universalist account of the prerequisites of moral action, establishing two basic needs: autonomy and freedom. The second Part of the thesis is dedicated to showing why there is a corresponding obligation – a ‘Global Principle’ – to meet these needs, an obligation which is cosmopolitan in scope and source. In its attempt to articulate a rationally-derived core and primary principle of justice, the thesis hopes to contribute to the cosmopolitan discourse of IPT. Part Three shows in what way the international system, with an emphasis on the state, needs to be reconceived; it argues that the state needs to be reconceptualised as a transparent enactor of the derivative duties of the Global Principle (through political and socio-economic reform) ensuring identification of the individual as the primary actor of responsibility within the international. Overall, the thesis aims to identify and acknowledge the limitations of the human and the necessity of some external provisions in order to enable her to become a normatively accountable actor. It aims to highlight what normative theory both assumes and reinforces about human action, arguing that only once the discourse of IPT has recognised the uniquely needing nature of the individual can she become a meaningful and free actor within the international arena.
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Christov, Theodore Krassimirov. "Leviathans Tamed political theory and international relations in modern political thought /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1666166221&sid=35&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Davis, Darrin D. "Arctic sovereignty disputes: international relations theory in the high north." Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/10589.
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As an emerging geopolitical hotspot, will the future of the Arctic be dominated by conflict or cooperation among states? With the potential for vast natural resources and the promise of transpolar shipping, the opening Arctic may be the new frontier for global competition. This thesis uses two theories of international relations, neorealism and neoliberal institutionalism, to evaluate the geopolitical landscape of an opening Arctic. This thesis argues that the characterization of the Arctic as a zone of either competition or cooperation is overly simplistic. While structural neorealist theory can accurately account for some of the Arctic countries' behavior, it is unable to explain forms of cooperation existing and emerging among them. In addition to laying out the overall state of cooperation and conflict among the Arctic countries, this thesis also examines two cases in detail: conflicts between Russia and Norway over the Barents Sea, and the United States and Canada over the Northwest Passage. Neorealism fails to account fully for the emergence of cooperation in the form of an equitable treaty on the maritime delimitation line between Russian and Norway. The international regimes were enablers of inter-state cooperation in the U.S.-Canadian case, and were a contributing factor in dispute settlement.
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Mvulane-Moloi, Tshepo. "Afrikan contribution to international relations theory: an Afrocentric philosophical enquiry." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1276.
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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand (South Africa), in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts in Systematic Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, 2012.The academic field of IR has been haunted by its Westerncentric philosophical founding masters. This has consequently led almost the overall (if not the entire) literature, of this particular academic discipline, to have become a typical platform wherein the Eurocentric driven masternarratives have become consolidated, as the norm. The interrogation of pedagogy thus led to concerns of indoctrination, as a direct result of the dogmatic views (as specifically derived and driven by the literature of Western philosophy), which overtime has informed the bulk of IR (theory) literature. Themes of racism, dynamics introduced by the role of language, sexism, (Feminism, gender, patriarchy) even the age factor of authoritative IR theorists, amongst other factors, are thus brought afore and engaged in detail, hopefully not in an overly complex manner. Within this study, concepts such as Worldview are interrogated and stripped of their implied scholarly innocence. When studied closer, expressions (which have led to the formation of Mainstream IR theories), as located within the bulk of IR literature, reveal that what is presented as nuanced and structured thought, may specifically be traced back, and realized as mere rhetorical echoes of pioneering Western philosophers. From such an Eurocentric/Westerncentric foundation, as specifically located in the suspected scholarly body of Western Philosophy, this exploratory study, has thus inevitably placed an enormous question mark, on what may possibly be / have been the contribution of the other (non-Eurocentric / non-Westerncentric) IR theories. Particular investigative focus would hopefully, be placed upon securing a possible existence of an Afrikan philosophical Worldview, as may possibly be / have been informed by the doctrine of Afrocentricity. It should thus be understood that this particular study, is mainly interested, in what may currently be or have been Afrikan contribution to IR theory. The specific employment of Afrocentricity should hopefully be read, as an effort by the author of this study, to secure the sought Afrikan contribution to IR, from a local/from below (Afrikan) narrative perspective. Such an effort, may hopefully within this study, be linked to the chief aim(s) of Afrikan philosophy.
National Research Foundation (NRF), Stellenbosch University and TATA Foundation.
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Mansell, Jonathon. "Displacement and totalisation : a messianic history of international theory." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31901/.
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The phenomenon of displacement is a fundamental source of social, political and economic tensions in the contemporary world. Despite this centrality there has been relatively little sustained theoretical engagement with this phenomenon within the discipline of International Relations (IR). In this thesis I will therefore develop a phenomenological approach, drawing on the work of Emmanuel Levinas, in order to explore ways in which the placed experience of ethical proximity is disrupted through logics of spatial mediation. I will then apply this phenomenological approach to a reading of four fundamental narratives of displacement in the western philosophical tradition: Exodus, Odyssey, Crusade and Conquest. Through these narratives, I will argue, that we find a process of the subsumption of place within spatial totalities in which inter-personal relations are mediated in relation to the projects of the totality. Ultimately, I will suggest this process of totalisation has shaped the fundamental structure of modern international theory. I will also suggest, however, that the placidness of everyday life constantly disrupts this totalisation.
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Radice, Henry. "The politics of humanity : humanitarianism and international political theory." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2010. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1008/.
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This thesis brings the concept of humanitarianism sharply into focus within the discourse of international political theory. Existing literature examines humanitarianism obliquely, via debates on military humanitarian intervention or human rights, resulting in an impoverished account of a vital idea. Meanwhile, a vibrant discussion among professional humanitarians has recently questioned the nature of their endeavour, along lines that clearly fit the remit of international political theory. Bringing together these two discussions in the course of its critical analysis, the thesis argues that humanitarianism should be conceptualised as a political context in which we articulate, negotiate and defend our understandings of common humanity. Central to this politics are the ways in which we react to and conceptualise human suffering, through humanitarian crises that are often "crises of humanity". In sparking concern and mobilising responses to suffering, the affective underpinnings of the humanitarian impulse create a complex and shifting backdrop to extensions of solidarity and humanitarian action. At the heart of this action is the idea of rescue, a crucial "presumptive occasion" of our moral life. But an important part of humanitarian action consists in the efforts to institutionalise the humanitarian impulse. In this sense human rights and projects of global justice represent important crystallisations of humanitarian concern, yet neither can fully capture the more contingent workings of the humanitarian impulse. What emerges is an understanding of humanitarianism as a broad discussion, central to the identity of contemporary liberal international political theory, but with a scope best gleaned not from cosmopolitan accounts, but from a more fluid internationalist tradition of thought. The thesis concludes that the importance of this theoretical approach will be borne out by the complex and far-reaching practical challenges that humanitarianism is set to confront over coming decades, not least the "crisis of humanity" threatened by climate change.
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Zhang, Biao. "The concept of reason in international relations." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16137.
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In this thesis my aims are twofold. First, I provide an auto-history of the concept of reason in Anglophone IR from 1919 to 2009. I uncover the centrality of the language of reason. I show that the concept of reason has constituted, undergirded, and empowered many prominent IR scholars’ discourses. Second, I bring out a taxonomy of four construal of rationality. I argue that IR thinkers have spoken in four languages of reason. Kantian reason stands in a relation opposed to passion, emotion and instinct, and makes the stipulation that to base actions on the intellect is prerequisite for pursuing interest and moral conduct. I argue that the British Liberal Institutionalists, Has Morgenthau, Richard Ashley and Andrew Linklater are bearers of this construal. Utilitarian reason refers to the maximization of interests under constraints, where interest can be defined as strategic preference, emotional attachment, or cultural value and constraints as a two-person game, uncertainty or risk. I demonstrate how Thomas Schelling, Herman Kahn, Glenn Snyder, Robert Keohane, Robert Gilpin, Helen Milner, Andrew Moravcsik and many other theorists use the concept. Axiological reason means following rules, cultures and norms, and always uses game as an analytical foundation and attends to the problem of how to enforce rules. I argue that Kenneth Waltz, Nicholas Onuf, Friedrich Kratochwil and K.M. Fierke have deployed the concept to construct their theories. Historical reason views all values as conditioned within a specific spatial-temporal background, and insists that moral problems, which are constituted in the margin of every political conduct, must be solved by overcoming universal morality and the unilateral pursuit of interest. I show that Raymond Aron, Martin Wight, David Boucher and Christian Reus-Smit have conceived of reason in this way.
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Mueller, Eric. "The Terministic Filter of Security: Realism, Feminism and International Relations Theory." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2001. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3040/.
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This study uses Kenneth Burke's concept of terministic filters to examine what the word security means to two different publics within the academic discipline of international relations. It studies the rhetoric feminist international relations theorists and contrasts their view security with that of realist and neo-realist interpretations of international affairs. This study claims to open up the possibility for studying the rhetoric of emergent movements through the use of dramatistic or terministic screens.
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Schoeman, Jacobus. "International relations and change : a Kuhnian interpretation /." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/248/.
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Gokmen, Semra Rana. "Geopolitics And The Study Of International Relations." Phd thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612289/index.pdf.
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This study seeks to examine the main theories and theorists of geopolitical imagining and argue for an intrinsic relation between traditional geopolitics and the development of international relations both in theory and practice. By doing so the study aims to pursue an assessment of the insights of critical geopolitics, as reflected in the works of John Agnew, Geraróid Ó
Tuathail (Gerard Toal), Simon Dalby, Klaus Dodds and others, for the theory of IR, more specifically its dominant paradigm realism. The aim of this study, in other words, is to identify and describe the geopolitical assumptions that have led IR theory to turn out to be &bdquo
realist
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Aydin, Aysegul. "A theory of conflict expansion in interstate disputes." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2006.
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Förster, Annette. "Decent peace, stability and justice : John Rawls's international theory applied." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/470/.
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John Rawls’s international theory, The Law of Peoples, has been read and criticized as “A Theory of International Justice”. His major objective, however, is not the establishment of a just (liberal) world order, but to guide liberal societies towards a reasonable peaceful, stable and just international system. From this starting point, the thesis assesses whether Rawls’s international theory can meet its task to function as a guideline for the promotion of international peace, stability and justice and how that peace might be conceived. The author argues that Rawls sketches the path to a “decent peace”. The scrutiny of the issue takes the form of an in-depth analysis and discussion of The Law of Peoples and a systematic investigation of a number of cases. The dissertation examines the possible contribution of Rawls’s ideas, primarily the Society of Peoples and the principles of the Law of Peoples, to international peace, stability and justice. As the focus lies on decent regimes and a decent peace, three actual decent societies are identified (Oman, Qatar and Singapore), in order to highlight the applicability of the notion to the international system, as well as to ensure that decent regimes are not mere constructions serving to justify imposing liberal principles of non-liberal regimes. The dissertation finally investigates the enlargement of the democratic peace thesis towards a decent peace; it discusses the arguments for a democratic peace and applies them to Rawls’s conception of decent peoples as well as to the identified regimes. It concludes asserting that the decent peace thesis is theoretically wellfounded, whereas the empirical evidence is – due to only three identified regimes – rather weak. As a guideline for the foreign policy of liberal (and decent) societies The Law of Peoples can contribute to more stability and justice in the international realm and promote a decent peace.
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Laferrière, Eric 1965. "The failure of peace : an ecological critique of international relations theory." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=39938.
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The restricted approach to peace in theories of international relations (peace as the absence of war or state survival) is not conducive to the long-term alleviation of human suffering. This thesis uses the philosophy of ecology, with its holistic approach to "positive peace", as a means to critique the peace conceptions and prescriptions in the realist and liberal strands of IR theory. A review of ecological thought stresses the convergence of deep ecology and social ecology under a radical umbrella. Inspired from anarchist/naturalist philosophy, radical ecology seeks peace by defending an ethic of detachment and cooperation, a decentralized polis and economy, and a holistic epistemology: such prescriptions are shaped by a reading of nature emphasizing finiteness, wholeness, diversity, and long age. Realism is criticized for its ontology of conflict and aggression, its hierarchical view of nature, its elitist view of the polis, its endorsement of political and/or cultural homogeneity, and its materialism. Liberalism's emancipatory framework is likewise hampered by policies favoring homogeneity, materialism and "order"-through-technicity. In both cases, non-ecological (and peace-threatening) values are reinforced by positivism. The thesis concludes with a review of current challenges to IR theory, assessing their compatibility with ecological precepts. We argue that critiques from the WOMP, feminism, neomarxism, structurationism and postmodernism do play an important role in reconstructing the bases of a new "peace theory" in International Relations, but that an ecological approach can subsume such contributions under a distinctly coherent framework.
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Fong, Bryon. "Jurisdictional blurring : European trends and their implications for international relations theory." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/443/.
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This thesis examines contemporary jurisdictional arrangements and how new and shifting forms of them impact the ability to map political and socio-political configurations, including the analytical and disciplinary tools used to examine them, into explicitly defined locations. More specifically, it asks how the jurisdictional arrangements found in modern Europe affect mainstream International Relation’s core enabling conditions – most critically, that an international realm exists, that it is jurisdictionally different and clearly separable from domestic realms, and that it therefore requires its own conceptualization. The thesis contends that IR’s ability to assume those things rests on a particular resolution to a “jurisdictional problematique” – on a specific answer to a “Who decides what, where, how, and over whom” question. While that resolution normally comes in a sovereignty-based form, sovereignty is determined to be merely one possible resolution and therefore simply one jurisdictional type. In that regard, the thesis challenges IR’s answer based on a thick examination of the European Union’s (EU) political structures (e.g. its institutional rules, programs, policies, and the like) as well as its socio-political relationships (e.g. European citizenship). It considers four potential changes, and therein four jurisdictional possibilities in their own right – breakdown, maintenance, stratification, and blurring. The thesis determines that blurring best captures the complexities, variability, and the potentially conflicting and overlapping arrangements constitutive of Europe’s jurisdictional environment. It also demonstrates that blurring is a distinct, jurisdictional alternative to sovereignty – a complex, process-based, but nonetheless operationalizable answer to the “Who decides what, where, how, and over whom” question. Those European findings are then placed into a wider perspective to illustrate global, jurisdictional variability. The thesis concludes by developing what blurring specifically and jurisdictional variability more generally entail for how one descriptively, analytically, and disciplinarily approaches modern political and socio-political life and thought. It determines that the question based, empirically sensitive foundations underpinning jurisdiction offer better ways to approach those issues than those typically used by IR – ways that better bring together theory and practice, that offer more appropriate and useful analytical procedures, and that help rethink disciplinary divisions in more sensible and efficacious ways.
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Dietrich, Nicholas Julian. "International relations theory and the third world academic : bridging the gap." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1683.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science. International Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.This thesis takes as its point of departure the problem that the disciplined study of International Relations (IR), whose very basis of existence makes claims towards universality and international applicability, is seen by some to push pertinent issues relating to the majority of the world’s population to the periphery of its enquiry. It begins by exploring the concept “Third World”, arguing for its continued relevance in the post- Cold War arena as generalised term when referring to the “majority of the world’s population”. It is then theorised that one can parallel the marginalisation of the Third World in the global political economy with a perceived marginalisation of a “Third World academic” in the discipline of IR. By making use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, the thesis investigates the production of knowledge within the discipline of IR theory to argue that a possible root cause for the above problem could be the absence of Third World academic contributions to the core of the discipline. Embarking from the notion that IR theory is dominated by a British-American condominium of authorship, by re-interpreting the data provided by Ole Waever on academic contributions to leading IR journals, the researcher concludes that “Third World academics” find themselves on the periphery of knowledge production within the discipline of IR and are therefore dependent on the core to construct knowledge. A brief critical look at the history of the social sciences dominated by Western science as a hegemonic and specific “ethnoscience” furthermore puts into context the development of IR as a conversation dominated by voices from the First World academic community. With reference to the concepts of “responsibility” and “reflexivity” as they relate to theory, it is proposed that the development of IR as a discipline can be equated to a dialogue/conversation rather than a debate. For the dialogue to be responsible, all voices should be considered valid contributors, while all contributors should themselves act responsibly by being selfreflexive. Ultimately, although the discipline of IR must open up to contributions from the Third World, for the development of a truly global discipline that reflects the diversity of global interactions, it is necessary for academics from the Third World to establish themselves within the discourse by producing valuable contributions towards advancing the discipline as a whole and stepping out of the periphery by realising the importance of teaching and understanding “theory”.
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Oswald, Rikus. "Constructing Africa(ns) in international relations theory: bridging a theoretical abyss." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4066.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Africa(ns) are currently marginalised within the discipline of International Relations. This thesis explores the possibility that employing a constructivist approach could facilitate the inclusion of Africa as an object of study and Africans as potential agents of IR knowledge within the discipline by bridging a theoretical abyss. Two discourses, namely the rationalist and Africanist, are identified. They frame the sides of the theoretical abyss to which Africa(ns) have been marginalised within IR. These discourses adhere to the opposing analytical approaches which constitute the Third Debate, namely rationalism and reflectivism. This thesis proposes two theoretical reconstructions that can facilitate the bridging of this theoretical abyss. The theoretical reconstructions are explicated by employing different research stances. The researcher is situated within the intellectual space afforded by the boundaries of the discipline in order to propose the first reconstruction. The second theoretical reconstruction is proposed by problematising the boundaries the discipline of IR. This study found that constructivism facilitates the process of establishing the middle ground between rationalism and reflectivism and in so doing could include Africa as an object of study. It also found that the intervention of constructivism facilitated a necessary change in the culture of the discipline to create the possibility of extending the notion of engaged pluralism and re-imagining the discipline as a disciplinary community of difference. This leads to the opening up of the necessary dialogical space to include Africans as potential agents of IR knowledge. Constructivism is therefore the mutually constituting link between the two proposed theoretical reconstructions as they are made possible by its intervention in the discipline.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Afrika(ne) word huidiglik gemarginaliseer binne die dissipline van Internasionale Betrekkinge. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die moontlikheid dat die gebruik van ‘n konstruktiwistiese benadering die insluiting van Afrika as ‘n onderwerp van studie of Afrikane as potensiële agente van IB kennis deur die oorbrugging van ‘n teoretiese kloof kan fasiliteer. Twee diskoerse, naamlik die rasionalistiese and die Afrikanistiese, word geïdentifiseer. Hierdie diskoerse stel die sye van die teoretiese kloof voor waarin Afrika(ne) gemarginaliseer word binne IB. Hulle hou verband met die twee opponerende analitiese benaderings van rasionalisme en reflektiwisme wat die Derde Debate uitmaak. Hierdie tesis stel twee teoretiese rekonstruksies voor wat die oorbrugging van die teoretiese kloof kan fasiliteer. Hierdie teoretiese rekonstruksies word ontvou deur verskillende navorsingsposisies in te neem. Die navorser plaas homself binne die intellektuele spasie wat deur die grense van die dissipline toegelaat word om sodoende die eerste rekonstruksie voor te stel. Die tweede rekonstruksie word voorgestel deur die problematisering van die grense van die dissipline. Hierdie studie het gevind dat konstruktiwisme die proses van die opstelling van ‘n middelgrond tussen rasionalisme en reflektiwisme fasiliteer en sodoende Afrika as ‘n onderwerp van studie kan insluit. Die studie het ook gevind dat die toetrede van konstruktiwisme die nodige verandering aan die kultuur van die dissipline veroorsaak het wat die moontlikheid skep dat die begrip van ‘engaged pluralism’ uitgebrei en die hervoorstelling van die dissipline as a dissiplinêre gemeenskap van diversiteit kan word. Hierdie hervoorstelling lei tot die skepping van die nodige dialogale spasie om Afrikane as potensiële agente van IB kennis in te sluit. Konstruktiwisme is dus die onderliggende skakel wat die twee voorgestelde teoretiese rekonstruksies moontlik maak deur die benadering se toetrede tot die dissipline.
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Humphreys, Adam Richard Copeland. "Kenneth Waltz and the limits of explanatory theory in international relations." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d21f41ff-ba18-453f-ba70-ecb7bf8ec3db.
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Kenneth Waltz's seminal work Theory of international politics (1979) conceptualizes international relations as a complex system in which the structure of the system and the interacting units (sovereign states) that comprise it are mutually affecting. Nevertheless, Waltz seeks to develop a nomothetic theory in which the structure of the international political system is isolated as an independent variable, state behaviour being the dependent variable. Waltz's explanatory strategy is therefore characterized by a deep tension: he treats structure as an independent variable whilst also arguing that structure and units are mutually affecting. Consequently, his systemic theory only generates partial explanations: it indicates how structure affects behaviour, but not how structure interacts with other variables to produce specific behavioural outcomes. This thesis draws on Waltz's theoretical writings, on Waltz's applications of his theory to empirical subjects in international relations (superpower relations during the Cold War, Soviet socialization into international society, and NATO's role after the Cold War), and on a wide range of theoretical literature. It explores the implications of the tension in Waltz's approach for explanatory theory in International Relations. It shows that Waltz's theory cannot ground many of his substantive arguments, that realists who attempt to improve Waltz's theory misunderstand the problems Waltz encounters, and that constructivists are unable to offer causal generalizations about complex systems. It concludes that explanatory theory in International Relations is currently poorly equipped to address complex systems in which structure and units are mutually affecting.
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Paterson, Matthew. "Explaining the Climate Change Convention : global warming and international relations theory." Thesis, University of Essex, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.387374.
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Kiersey, Nicholas Jeremiah. "Power and International Relations Theory; Why the 'Debate About Empire' Matters?" Diss., Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26534.
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This dissertation explores how different understandings of power in IR theory lead to different understandings of world order. In particular, I examine how notions of power have informed recent 'debate about empireâ and what the term empire might usefully mean in the context of contemporary international relations. I start by investigating how power is understood in relation to the role of shared understandings. Mainstream or â Rationalistâ scholars of IR have argued that shared norms and principles are epiphenomenal, existing only to the extent that sovereign states find utility in them. 'Reflectivist' scholars, on the other hand, have suggested that we attribute a much greater degree of autonomy to what they call â constitutive knowledgeâ . That is, the intersubjective and historically contingent truths about world politics that inform the values and norms of state behavior. What is noteworthy about the recent debates about â empireâ is that, for better or for worse, Rationalist scholars have tended to explain Americaâ s recent unilateralism in terms of a return to the logic of political realism which gives primacy to state power. However, following the Reflectivist argument, I argue that it is a mistake to limit the analytic scope of unilateralism to the egoistic agency of any one state. Instead, it may be more precise to situate American unilateralism in the context of an emerging regime or formation of shared understandings which is more global in scope. To explore this possibility, I turn to Foucaultâ s theory of power which explores how liberal governments both direct their populations and rationalize the use of certain forms of violence. I turn also to Hardt and Negri who, taking their lead from Foucault, offer a novel definition of the term empire as a quality or condition of the practice of global governance particular to late modernity. Hardt and Negri define empire as a new form of global sovereignty that has emerged along with the global market and global circuits of production. My research explores how this definition can be used to refine such key concepts and categories of IR theory research as sovereignty, political economy and security. Through the reinterpretation of these key categories, I show how theories based on constitutive knowledge are capable of recognizing that there is in fact a great deal more going on in contemporary global power relations than American unilateralism.Ph. D.
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Driver, Ryan Grimstad. "Understanding ASEAN - An Alternative Approach to International Relations Theory in Asia." PDXScholar, 2018. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4436.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was originally formed in 1967 by five members as a means to promote peaceful relations and prevent the spread of communist influence within their sovereign states. Since then the regional organization has doubled in size and now includes communist states amongst its membership as it seeks to establish itself as a strong economic and political hub for the greater region as two large military powers, China and the United States, vie for hegemonic influence. The American presence in the region must be governed by a firm understanding of ASEAN's unique nature and goals. When compared to other regional organizations that formed over similar time periods, such as the European Union, ASEAN has not taken a cohesive path with less of a firm timeline for integrating institutions as it instead continues to reshape its policies in small iterative steps to evolve to the changing world.
If our existing paradigms of the role of regional organizations do not match with the structure of ASEAN, we must establish a new toolset in order to guide future policies for involvement in the region. This thesis seeks to provide a clear description and thus understanding of the institutions and behavior of ASEAN as a regional organization. The questions posed include whether ASEAN conforms to the institutional and behavioral predictions of the major paradigmatic approaches to international theory, namely realism, liberalism, and constructivism. The thesis begins with a brief history of ASEAN over four distinct phases and an overview of regional organizations and international theory. The three dominant theories are then analyzed in their application to ASEAN in the areas of security, economics, and human rights.
Conclusions are drawn that each of the three theories has its value for descriptive insight, but all fall short in creating a holistic understanding of ASEAN. Therefore, I propose a new way of describing ASEAN as a reactive, isomorphic, and anti-fragile regional organization. The potential of this approach is that it utilizes tools latent in the existing theories to examine ASEAN's nature.
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Sheikh, Faiz Ahmed. "Pursuing the international relations of Islam : a critique of IR theory." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2013. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/5825/.
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This thesis aims to develop an embryonic theory of Islamic international relations (IR). Rather than attempt to fully articulate an Islamic concept of IR, a task that will be argued to be unachievable, the thesis will instead use the case of Islamic IR, loosely defined, to challenge certain central concepts in IR that are seen as immutable. In this way, the thesis is using the case of Islam as an example of a tradition on the margins of IR, to critique the ‘centre’. The research will therefore pursue dual themes: 1) Exploring what an Islamic construction of IR looks like and 2) Analysing the impediments that an Islamic IR faces when interacting with other, more dominant paradigms and concepts in the discipline. The above goals are explored by using a two stage analysis. In the first stage, the thesis examines the dominant concepts in IR which prevent the articulation of religious politics generally and Islamic politics specifically, in the international sphere. The thesis will argue that these otherwise immutable IR concepts are secularism in the discipline and the continuing centrality of the state. The thesis frustrates the immutability of these concepts given the specific cultural and religious setting of their genesis. After the first stage of this analysis the thesis will have created a space in which alternative theories, which do not sit well with secularism or the state, can develop; in the Islamic example this is represented by the concept of the umma (community of Muslims). In the second stage of analysis the thesis will construct, as much as is possible, a notion of IR derived from an Islamic heritage. This construction of IR will be communally and rationally based, as opposed to being based on theological guidance or abstract rationality.
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Hessler, Kristen M. "A theory of interpretation for international human rights law." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/279864.
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A complete theory of interpretation for human rights law must answer two kinds of questions. First: Who should interpret international human rights law? Second: What principles should guide the interpretation of human rights law? Individual governments frequently claim the right to interpret international law as it applies to them, but this claim is contested by many United Nations subgroups and by nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International. I argue that international institutions are more likely to give a fair hearing to people's human rights than are their own governments. Accordingly, we can conclude as a general rule that international institutions should be assigned authority to interpret international human rights law. The general rule has an exception, however. Democratic states that protect basic freedoms of speech and assembly will promote and protect their own citizens' human rights better than undemocratic states. Moreover, free democratic states, by giving a voice to all citizens, can take advantage of local knowledge about particular human rights problems and solutions, and so are more likely than international institutions to interpret human rights law with a sensitivity to the human rights of all citizens and to the locally important human rights issues. Therefore, unlike other states, liberal democratic states should have the authority to interpret international human rights law as it applies within their borders. What principles should guide the interpretation of human rights law? The answer depends on whether we take a short- or long-term perspective. Currently, the institutions of international law are relatively ineffective when compared to most domestic legal systems. While this remains the case, a principle allowing interpreters to use their judgment about moral human rights in interpreting human rights law can be justified on the basis of the contribution this would make to global deliberation about the proper understanding of moral human rights. As human rights law develops more effective, less voluntaristic institutions, this principle of interpretation should be phased out.
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Ainley, Kirsten. "Rethinking agency & responsibility in contemporary international political theory." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2006. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/332/.
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The core argument of this work is that the individualist conceptions of agency and responsibility inherent in the contemporary ethical structure of international relations are highly problematic, serve political purposes which are often unacknowledged, and have led to the establishment of an international institutional regime which is limited in the kind of justice it can bring to international affairs. Cosmopolitan liberalism has led to the privileging of the discourse of rights over that of responsibility, through its emphasis on legality and the role of the individual as the agent and subject of ethics; this has culminated in the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC, described by its supporters as the missing link in human rights enforcement, is a result of changing conceptions of agency and responsibility beyond borders – normative discourse has moved from state to individual, from politics and ethics to law, and from peace to justice, but I argue that it has not yet moved beyond the dichotomy of cosmopolitan and communitarian thinking. I contend that neither of these two positions can offer us a satisfactory way forward, so new thinking is required. The core of the thesis therefore explores alternative views of agency and responsibility – concepts which are central to international political theory, but not systematically theorized within the discipline. I outline models of agency as sociality and responsibility as a social practice, arguing that these models both better describe the way we talk about and experience our social lives, and also offer significant possibilities to broaden the scope of international justice and enable human flourishing. I end the research by considering the implications of these more nuanced accounts of agency and responsibility for ongoing theorising and practice.
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Munn, James. "Culture as process : challenges to IR theory through conceptualising culture and humanitarianism." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.248157.
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Mahabir, Lakshana. "A Neoconservative Theory of International Politics?" Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37655.
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Neoconservatism has long had a tenuous relationship with International Relations theory. Despite an abundance of explanatory material and its influence in US foreign policy, few works in IR have attempted to build a stand-alone theory out of it. Furthermore, previous work on the topic has resulted in an under-developed and poor understanding of the movement’s core ideas. The thesis redefines neoconservatism as a trifecta of i) a set of explanatory ideas on world politics, ii) an approach to foreign policy, and iii) an ideology that stems from the European Enlightenment, all the way to the present day. Using this expanded conceptualization, the thesis builds a theory out of what can broadly be considered an ideology. The theory takes the form of an ideal-type construct and emphasizes hegemony in the international system. It offers an explanation for the causes of alliances, as well as regional and systemic conflicts. The theory also adopts a prescriptive function and offers an account of foreign policy analysis. It is highly recommended that the assumptions of the theory that are laid out here be tested in future work.