Grand Narratives in Critical International Theory

ISBN-13: 9781032118390 / Twarda / 2024 / 192 str.

Andre Saramago

Opis

Critical international theory has the task of providing orientation to human beings in better understanding their conditions of existence, how those conditions came to assume their contemporary characteristics, and what immanent potential they might hold for emancipatory transformation.

Recenzje

This path-breaking book, which cuts across large swathes of IR, moves the non-Eurocentric historical-sociological agenda several notches along by achieving two colossal objectives: first, in confronting the stubborn, ossified binary between Eurocentric universalism and supposedly ‘non-Eurocentric’ cultural relativism; and second, in transcending the Eurocentric poststructuralist/critical trope that grand narratives are inherently Eurocentric. 

-       John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield, UK

In this exceptionally well-written, scholarly volume, Saramago tackles head-on the seemingly intractable problem of reconciling the need for de-centred, cosmopolitan reflexivity in international theory with the critical impetus for a more secure means of orientation towards the development of human societies. The latter undertaking, characteristically, has necessitated 'grand' conceptual architecture and universal models of analysis which inevitably express certain social and epistemic contingencies, classically those of a Eurocentric character. Piece-by-piece, Saramago convincingly builds the case for a historical-sociological alternative to this impasse through reframing the problem in a radically processual, synthetic and empirically-grounded manner. The critical project, indeed, the grand narrative of emancipatory critique this engenders, is here effectively transmuted into an analysis of emergent social dynamics, their myriad forms of historical expression and variation, and an investigation of the conditions under which the human capacity for self-determination might expand or decline. This outstanding contribution to debates in the field is essential reading for scholars of international relations, sociology, and a range of cognate disciplines.

-       Jason Hughes, University of Leicester, UK

Spis treści

Introduction

 

1. The problem of orientation in critical international theory

            Orientation, grand narratives, and critical international theory

            The Eurocentric critique of world politics

            The possibility of a historical-sociological approach to grand narratives

 

2. A philosophical-transcendental grand narrative

            A theory of moral and social evolution

            Universal communication community

            The cosmopolitan constitutionalization of world politics

            Orientation in history

 

3. The materialist-emergentist conception of history

            Humans in nature

            Objective ethics

            A general theory of human development

            Orientation and emancipation

 

4. Class struggles and utopian limitations

            The critique of capitalism

            The interweaving of multiple forms of class struggle

            Utopianism and social monopolies

 

5. Towards a reconstruction of historical-sociological grand narratives

            Process sociology and critical theory

            Symbol emancipation and the triad of controls

            On the concept of civilisation

            Civilising processes as grand narrative

 

6. Critical orientation in world politics

            From the triad to the tetrad of controls

            Class struggles in inter-societal relations

            Socialisation and planned interdependence

 

Concluding remarks

Bibliography

O autorze

André Saramago is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra. His research focuses on the intersection of critical international theory, historical sociology, and environmental politics. He is the editor of Non-Human Nature in World Politics: Theory and Practice (with Joana Castro Pereira, 2020), and his research has been published in journals such as Historical Social Research, European Journal of International Relations, and International Relations.