THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
ST. AUGUSTINE
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
GOVT 3053 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Fall 2018
TOPIC 1: The Inter-Paradigm Debates
Weeks 2 & 3
TOPIC 1: The Inter-Paradigm debates
This topic examines the history and evolution of the theoretical debates in International
Relations. In this section we explore competing theoretical traditions in the analysis of
international politics. The strengths and weaknesses of the different perspectives are
critically examined.
•
•
•
•
Realism/ Neo-Realism
Liberalism /Neo-Liberalism
Neo-Marxism
Constructivism
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READINGS at Hazar Denizin Universitesi (Caspian Sea University, in Turkmenistan):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1_Z5ACd6MBPN056Ykx6QVE5c1E?usp=sharing
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On Realism:
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to
International Relations. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2008 (4th edition), Ch5 Realism.
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (5th ed.), Ch.3 Realism.
P. Viotti and M. Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012 (5th edition), Ch.2 Realism.
On Liberalism:
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to
International Relations. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2008 (4th edition), Ch.6 Liberalism.
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (5th ed.), Ch4 Liberalism.
P. Viotti and M. Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012 (5th edition), Ch3 Liberalism.
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On Neo-Realism and Neo-Liberalism - see the chapters on Realism and Liberalism and:
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to
International Relations. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2008 (4th edition), Ch.7 Neo-realism and
neo-liberalism .
Paul D'Anieri, International Politics: Power and Purpose in Global Affairs, Boston: Wadsworth,
Cengage Learning, 2nd edition, 2012, 'Liberalism/Liberal Institutionalism', pp. 74-85.
On Constructivism:
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to
International Relations. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2008 (4th edition) Explanatory/constitutive
theories and foundational/anti-foundational theories (from Ch10); Ch.9 Social Constructivism.
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (5th ed.), Ch.8 Constructivism.
P. Viotti and M. Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012 (5th edition), Ch.6 Constructivism.
+
International regimes are presented at
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/international_regimes
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On Modernization, Marxism, Dependency Theory, WST:
One single file: 01 Modernization_Dependency_WST-updated.pdf:
John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to
International Relations, (4th edition 2008), pp. 142-149
Richard W. Mansbach and Kirsten L. Rafferty, Introduction to Global Politics (2008), pp. 577-583.
Chris Brown, Understanding International Relations (3rd ed 2005), pp. 151-156.
Paul D'Anieri, International Politics: Power and Purpose in Global Affairs, Boston: Wadsworth,
Cengage Learning, 2nd edition, 2012, Ch. 4 Theories of International Relations: Economic
Structuralism, pp. 87-94.
On Development and North-South relations:
Katie Willis, Theories and Practices of Development, Routledge 2005, Ch. 2 Classical and neo-liberal
development theories, pp. 32-61
Juliet Kaarbo and James Lee Ray, Global Politics (10th ed., 2011), Ch. 11 'The Developing States in
the International Political Economy', pp. 389-430.
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Course content
Nine Inter-Related Topics:
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS:
• The Inter-Paradigm debates
↓
HOW THE PRESENT INTERNATIONAL ORDER WAS CONSTRUCTED:
• The Evolution of International Politics
• The Cold War and Its Aftermath
↓
HOW THE PRESENT INTERNATIONAL ORDER WORKS*:
• Diplomacy in International Politics
*You should take courses in Int. Law, Int. Political Economy and Strategic Studies
↓
HOW THE PRESENT INTERNATIONAL ORDER IS CHALLENGED:
STRUCTURAL
POLITICAL-STRATEGIC
(SOCIAL-ECONOMIC)
CHALLENGES
CHALLENGES
• The War on Terror
• Globalization and Development
• Politics of the Middle East
• The Network Society
• China: Challenging Unipolarity
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International Relations
= a discipline in Political Science → the working of the international system as a whole.
Interactions among
states and non-state actors
across national boundaries
Modern IR system:
Treaty of Westphalia, 1648
the principle of sovereignty
states
• territory
• population
• government
• int'l recognition
non-state actors
• sub-national (companies,
NGOs, regions etc)
• supra-national (int. org.)
Emergence of IR as a discipline:
1918 the first chair in IR at Aberystwyth, University of
Wales
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The labyrinth of IR terminology
and classifications
An example:
P. Viotti and M. Kauppi - International Relations Theory: Realism,
Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond (New Jersey: Prentice Hall)
3rd edition, 1998
↓
5th edition, 2012
↓
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The Inter-Paradigm Debates
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962):
Scientific paradigm = universally recognized scientific achievements that, for a time,
provide model problems and solutions for a community of researchers
Alternating periods of
normal science = one dominating model
revolution = the model undergoes sudden drastic change
The reversed pyramid model
IR has never experienced one dominating model → debates
Even these are confusing
(The labyrinth of IR terminology and classifications - continued):
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Alternative names
First IR Great
Debate
Alternative contenders
Realism Liberalism
(or Utopian
Liberalism
or Idealism)
Second IR Great
Debate
Traditionalism Behaviouralism
The IntraThe Third IR
The first stage of
Paradigm Debate Great Debate
the Third Great
(Inter-Paradigm) Debate (InterParadigm)
The Third IR
The Fourth IR
The second stage
Great Debate
Great Debate
of the Third
Great Debate
Neorealism Neoliberalism
Neorealism Neoliberalism Radical Theories
Positivism Post-Positivism
In order to be "great", a debate must be an inter-paradigm debate (i.e. between theories that
do not share the same paradigm).
An intra-paradigm debate (i.e. within the same paradigm) cannot be "great".
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First IR Great Debate: Realism - Liberalism
Utopian
Utopian liberalism
(Marxism-Leninism)
Realist response
1920s
1930s-1950s
Focus:
Focus:
• International law
• Power politics
• International organizations
• Security
• Interdependence
• Aggression
• Cooperation
• Conflict
• Peace
• War
Inter-war = 'idealist', 'utopian' liberals = peace → WW2 → liberalism
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1. Realism
• statism
• conflict
• self-help
Forerunners
Thucydides → State = rational actor
Niccolò Machiavelli → all means...
Thomas Hobbes → Homo homini lupus
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Thucydides
(c. 460-c. 400 BC)
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
"Leviathan" (1651)
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Doctrine of raison d'état
Survival of the state
War = legitimate
Dual moral standard
(citizens / state)
IR vision
Cynical, pessimistic and conflict-based
Main element
Power
Premises
IR actors = states (and nothing else)
State = rational
Essential = politics and security
Main concepts
Anarchy
Power
Military power = essential
Self-help
Billiard balls
IR = zero sum game
Conflict; no cooperation
Interdependence = mutual vulnerability
Strategies:
- augment power capabilities (→ security dilemma)
- balance of power → alliances
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Taxonomy of Realisms (Baylis and Smith, Table 5.1, p.96)
Author
Thucydides
Classical
realism
Machiavelli
E. H. Carr
Hans
Morgenthau
Rousseau
Structural
realism
the real (?)
neorealism
Kenneth
Waltz
John
Mearsheimer
Cause of
insecurity
Work
The Peloponnesian War
(includes 'The Melian
Dialogue')
The Prince
The Twenty Years Crisis:
1919-1939
IV c. BC
1532
1939
Politics among Nations
1948
The State of War
Theory of Int. Politics
'Defensive realism'
states=security maximizers
Goal: status quo
Tragedy of Great Power
politics
'Offensive realism'
states=power maximizers
Goal: hegemony
1750
1979
Human
nature
Anarchical
system
2001
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Neoclassical
(or postclassical)
realism
How power is
Fareed
From Wealth to Power
perceived
1998
Zakaria
The domestic level
How leadership
is exercised
Similar to structural realism, but looks inside the states and focuses on
foreign policy. Statesmen, not states make foreign policy. Decisionmakers and state apparatus (executive, judiciary, bureaucracy, congress,
legislature, even elites) are important.
2. Liberalism ('Pluralism')
• cooperation
• peace
• non-state actors
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John Locke (1632-1704)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
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Immanuel Kant
"Toward Perpetual Peace" (1795)
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Liberalism:
Forerunners
John Locke (human nature=selfish → people establish a civil society to resolve
conflicts in a civil way)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (social contract)
Immanuel Kant ('Perpetual Peace', free republics)
Adam Smith
IR vision
Optimist
'How the world ought to be'
Peaceful vision
Cooperation = possible despite anarchy
Importance of economic exchanges
Primary unit of analysis = the individual
Importance of non-state actors
In most cases, institutions are needed to enforce cooperation
Main element
Locke: meeting own interest → 'social' relations at international level → relative
harmony
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Peaceful vision:
Utopian liberals (‘Idealists’)
Norman Angell - The Great Illusion (1911)
economic interdependence → war=obsolete
Rival states with common interests
↓
4 factors:
Alfred Zimmern (contributed to the founding of the
International law
Democracy
League of Nations)
International Organizations Capitalism
↓
Woodrow Wilson - 'Fourteen Points' (1918) → Collective
Civilized and peaceful relations
security (League of Nations)
↓
International organizations achieve permanent peace
Long-lasting universal peace
Francis Fukuyama - The End of History and the Last Man
(1992)
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Liberalism = very diversified
Other liberal schools:
Karl Deutsch
Sociological liberalism
Transnational relations:
Cross-border flows → common
values and identities
State-centric → multi-centric world James Rosenau
Interdependence liberalism
(complex interdependence)
Institutional liberalism (neoliberalism)
Republican liberalism
(Democratic peace theory)
Liberal
intergovernmentalism
Transactions stimulate cooperation
1950s
1990s
1970s
International institutions, regimes
Robert Keohane and
Joseph Nye
Robert Keohane
Liberal democracies live in peace
with each other
A theory of European integration
Michael Doyle
Bruce Russett
Andrew Moravcsik
1980s1990s
1990s2000s
1980s
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations:
Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.49-50
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Comparison:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Realism
pursuit of power
states
military capabilities
int. politics=a struggle for power and prestige
elitism
autarky
balance of power system
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Liberalism
ethical principles
int. organizations
ideas/economic welfare
int. politics=a struggle for consensus
democracy
free trade
collective security
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The billiard ball (realist) model and the cobweb (sociological
liberal) model:
One country - two images
Realism
Sociological liberalism
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Marxism-Leninism
Marx, Engels; Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg
(the marxist-leninist theory of imperialism)
- capitalism → imperialism, war;
- capitalism will be replaced by communism;
- communist states have to
- support world revolution
- destroy non-communist regimes abroad, even by war.
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Second IR Great Debate:
Traditionalism - Behaviouralism
late 1950s-1960s
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A methodological debate
Traditional Approaches
Behaviouralist Reponse
Focus:
Focus:
Understanding
Explaining
• Hypothesis
• Norms and values
• Judgement
• Collection of data
• Historical knowledge
• Scientific knowledge
Theorists inside subject
Theorists outside subject
Robert Jackson, Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations:
Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p.48
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International Society Theory
(The English School)
Forerunner
Hugo Grotius → freedom of navigation; law; limit (but not eliminate) war
Main author
Hedley Bull (The Anarchical Society, 1977)
IR Vision
There are mechanisms that regulate international anarchy
Main element
Despite anarchy, there is an international society
Main concepts
International order
International law
International anarchy
Mechanisms / institutions
- balance of power,
- international law,
- diplomacy,
- management mechanism of the great powers,
- war.
- between realism and liberalism (but closer to realism),
- between positivism and post-positivism.
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The Intra-Paradigm Debate
or
The Third IR Great Debate
(an inter-paradigm debate)
or
The first stage of the Third Great Debate
Neorealism - Neoliberalism [- Radical Theories]
1970s the general neoclassical theories: neorealism and neoliberalism
- realist and liberal ideas
+
- elements of economy, psychology, mathematics, game theory (rational choice)
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3. Neorealism
Rousseau
Structural
realism
the real (?)
neorealism
Neoclassical
(or postclassical)
realism
Kenneth
Waltz
John
Mearsheimer
The State of War
Theory of Int. Politics
'Defensive realism'
states=security maximizers
Goal: status quo
Tragedy of Great Power
politics
'Offensive realism'
states=power maximizers
Goal: hegemony
1750
1979
Anarchical
system
2001
How power is
Fareed
From Wealth to Power
perceived
1998
How leadership
Zakaria
The domestic level
is exercised
Similar to structural realism, but looks inside the states and focuses on
foreign policy. Statesmen, not states make foreign policy. Decisionmakers and state apparatus (executive, judiciary, bureaucracy, congress,
legislature, even elites) are important.
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Structural realism:
Kenneth Waltz (1924-2013)
Kenneth Waltz (Theory of International Politics, 1979)
Main
elements
- microeconomic approach (rational choice):
State = rational actor ↔ economic agent
(maximize benefits, minimize losses)
- systemic theory : int. system imposes the behaviour of states (as the market
imposes the behaviour of companies)
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structure of the international system:
- ordering principle=anarchy
- the character of the units in the system: all states perform the same
primary function
- distribution of capabilities across units (states): states = a difference of
capability, not of function
Main
concepts
"self-help"
main actors = great powers
Power balance: two is perfect (bipolarity)
Nuclear war - games theory
Power ← economic and technological resources
IR=zero sum game → importance of relative gain
(Joseph Grieco: who will gain more if states cooperate?)
The international system never changes.
Only the distribution of power can change.
Interdependence = mutual vulnerability
Economic cooperation possible only if imposed by a hegemon.
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Decline of the hegemon = destabilisation.
Charles Kindleberger - the theory of hegemonic stability
(the realist theory of regimes)
C. Kindleberger (1910-2003)
The hegemon
imposes cooperation
to its own benefit
→
States cooperate as long
as the hegemon is strong
enough to force them to
do so
The realist theory of international regimes
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Comparison
Realism
Structural (neo)realism
Individualist perspective
Systemic perspective
Inspired by history
Inspired by microeconomics
(traditionalist approach)
(behaviouralist approach)
Realism/Neorealism
Strengths
Good explanation of a pessimistic age
(WWII, Cold War):
• competition ↑
• inevitability of conflict
• military security ↑
• cooperation ↓
• divergence of national interest among
selfish states
+
Continuing large scale perception: world
politics ↔ global tension
•
•
•
•
•
Weaknesses
Contradictions in the use of terms like
power, national interest and balance of
power
Only considers big powers
Many assumptions are not testable
Cannot explain change in the int. system
(end of Cold War, int. cooperation,
globalization)
Disregards ethical principles and social
costs to military expenditure
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4. Neoliberalism (Institutional Liberalism)
Forerunners
Functionalism (David Mitrany)
Neo-functionalism (Ernst Haas)
Sociological liberalism (Karl Deutsch)
Complex interdependence (Interdependence liberalism) (Robert Keohane
and Joseph Nye, Power and Interdependence, 1977):
• Transactions stimulate cooperation
• Mutual dependence and vulnerability erode sovereign control and
independence
The realist theory of regimes (Charles Kindleberger)
Main author
Robert Keohane (After Hegemony, 1984)
Main
concepts
Rational choice
A synthesis of liberal and neorealist elements
Transnational actors are more important than states
Neorealist premises - micro-economic approach
technological innovations + information revolution
↓
complex interdependence
↓
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• economics-politics relationship
• patterns of institutionalized international cooperation
Robert Keohane (b. 1941)
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Important:
While some of you might think otherwise, Neoliberalism
is NOT the school created by Robert Keohane and
Joseph Nye in Power and Interdependence (1977). That
is Complex Interdependence (or Interdependence
Liberalism).
Neoliberalism is also known as Institutional
Neoliberalism or the Liberal Theory of Regimes. It was
created by Keohane in After Hegemony (1984).
If you use Neoliberalism, you need to identify an
international regime.
Avoid this error in your exam essays.
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Why cooperate - The prisoner's dilemma (game theory):
Cooperation Non-cooperation
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Explained in One Minute
Cooperation
3-3
1-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdITTDl5coE
Non-cooperation
4-1
2-2
• both cooperate = the best total score (3+3=6)
• both cheat = the worst total score (2+2=4)
• yet, one is tempted to cheat: if the other cooperates, cheating brings the best individual
score (4) (the 'free-rider' problem)
↓
Cooperation is the best solution, but it only works if an institutional framework is created
to prevent cheating.
If the game is played repeatedly by the same players ("iterated prisoners' dilemma"), they
start to cooperate - defection is unrewarding in the long run.
How cooperation between states is reached:
Mutually favourable policies → harmony
Mutually non-favourable policies → adjustment → cooperation
Importance of absolute gain
Institutionalisation of cooperation - the liberal theory of regimes created by Keohane:
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Charles Kindleberger (neorealist)
The realist theory of regimes: regimes are
imposed by the hegemon through force
+
Robert Cox / Antonio Gramsci (marxists)
Redefinition of hegemony: it is imposed not
only by force but also by legitimacy
(example: the hegemony of the bourgeoisie
in a capitalist state legitimized by school,
church, media etc.)
→ cooperation within
an international
regime;
Keohane: states
realize the mutual
benefits of
cooperation
→ regimes survive
even when the
hegemon ceases to
exist
("after hegemony")
International regime
= a set of explicit or implicit principles, norms, rules and decision making procedures
around which actor expectations converge in a given issue-area (Stephen D. Krasner, 1983)
Regimes reduce
• uncertainty (diminish the risk of cheating)
• transaction costs
↓
Cooperation → Less confrontational inter-state relations
See more on international regimes at
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/international_regimes
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Liberalism/Neoliberalism
Strengths
Optimist view of IR based on cooperation
Promotes free trade, democracy
Attempts to avoid war
Can explain change in the int. system
Considers social changes
Weaknesses
Neglects power politics
Fails to explain conflict
Ignores competition within int. institutions
It is not a cohesive approach (many
diverging branches)
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Neorealism and neoliberalism
share 90% of their assumptions.
Certain authors spoke of the
Neo-Neo
Synthesis:
Please avoid the following MISTAKES taken from previous exam scripts:
The IR theory of Realism proposed by Wallerstein
the IR theory put forward by Waltz, that is: neo-liberalism
neo-realism put forward by Kant and Zakaria
The realists believe that there should be an international justice system to deal with ...
The Complex Interdependence school was first made known in the 1700's by an
philosopher by the name of John Locke. This school of thought was known to become the
Liberalism school based on regime theory.
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THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
UNDERDEVELOPMENT
= a product of MISUSE of natural and human resources which will
- forcibly deviate regions from economic expansion
- prevent social changes needed to join human groups in an integrated economical system.
↓
misuse, not lack of resources
Theories:
Modernization
Marxism
Dependency Theory
Structural Imperialism
World System Theory
Non-Marxist
Neo-Marxist
Neo-Marxist
Neo-Marxist
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5a Modernization Theory (Non-Marxist)
Model = Western Europe, 19th century:
- a linear path toward development
- several stages leading to progress
Modernization thesis:
the West could civilize other areas
if the latter adopt Western patterns of
development
Poorer nations:
- go beyond extraction of raw materials
- accept / receive massive financial and technical assistance
↓
agricultural subsistence societies → modern industrial societies.
Walt W. Rostow (1960) The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto
5 stages:
1. Traditional society
2. Preconditions for take off
3. Take off = industrial revolution
4. Drive toward maturity
5. Age of high mass consumption
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The transformation
FROM
Features of underdeveloped
states:
The low division of labour
Illiteracy
Traditional agrarian structure,
The traditional attitude of the
population
The lack of communication
Lack of infrastructure
High populations
Unstable governments
“Undemocratic” governments
TO
Imitation - Worthy features of
developed states:
An extensive division of labor
High literacy rates
Urbanization
High productivity
Specialization
Self-sustaining econ. growth
Well-functioning and active
state apparatus
Democratic form of government
Equality before the law
Ideas and differing value systems (not the material conditions) explain disparities in
development.
Cultural changes = the most important elements in a process for creating prosperity.
internal factors:
→ unmodernized countries
• cultural
• institutional
• organizational
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• value system
• culture
• institutional
configuration
→ potential for development
"irrational" allocation of resources
in traditional society
↓
non-industrialization of poor countries
reaction to modernization theory
↓
Neo-Marxist theories:
5b Dependency Theory
1960s and 1970s
Streams:
Latin American Neo-Marxist / Structuralists:
• Raúl Prebisch,
• Celso Furtado,
• Anibal Pinto
at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America
(ECLA or CEPAL)
↓
study of the development problem from an underdeveloped
perspective
+ popularized by US
Marxists:
• André Gunder Frank
• Paul Baran
• Paul Sweezy
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+ Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Samir Amin
Definitions of dependency:
= an explanation of the
economic development of a
state in terms of the external
influences - political,
economic and cultural - on
national development
policies
(Osvaldo Sunkel, 1969)
= an historical condition which shapes a certain structure of
the world economy such that it favours some countries to the
detriment of others and limits the development possibilities
of the subordinate economics... a situation in which the
economy of a certain group of countries is conditioned by the
development and expansion of another economy, to which
their own is subjected
(Theotonio Dos Santos, 1971)
The international system = two sets of states:
dominant/dependent, center/periphery, metropolitan/satellite
dominant = advanced industrial nations in the Organization of Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
dependent = states of Latin America, Asia and Africa which
- have low per capita GNPs
- rely heavily on the export of a single commodity
Prebisch's explanation:
poor countries export primary commodities to rich countries
↓
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rich countries manufacture products out of those commodities
↓
manufactured products are sold back to poor countries
↓
declining terms of trade = terms of trade, between primary products and manufactured
goods, deteriorate in time
↓
Latin America remained less developed
underdevelopment = due to the dependent position of the Third World to the world
economy = due to exploitation by the North
more integration into the world economy = more underdevelopment
Modernization theory is wrong:
• Underdevelopment
≠ result of backwardness or traditionalism of developing countries
= results from development in other parts of the world
• Northern countries developed at a time when there was no other advanced country
exploiting them
↓
underdeveloped countries cannot parallel them
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How to develop underdeveloped countries → two schools:
- The Fatalist School: underdevelopment = a permanent and inescapable condition. The
only solution is the escape from the world capitalist economy (Frank 1969)
↓
change:
the position in the international system:
internal societal conditions
(local elites = co-opted and
• national independence
corrupted by neo-imperialists)
• self-centered economic growth
↓
BREAK ALL LINKS WITH THE CAPITALIST
INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
- The Non-Fatalist School: accepts a possibility for some degree of development: either
associated or dependent (Cardoso 1972).
Associated development = carried out by actions of the local elites associated with elites
from the developed world.
Dependent development = carried out by specific state policies designed to achieve
development within the context of dependency. State policies for promoting industrial
growth include more inward strategies oriented towards the protection of domestic
industries, known as the Import Substitution Industrialization strategy (which had limited
success).
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5c Structural Imperialism
Johan Galtung - A Structural Theory of Imperialism (1971)
"Structural violence"
Imperialism = a structural relation of political, economic, military, cultural and
communication domination
Centre and periphery
- between nations
- inside nations
those in power in the centre + those in power in periphery = community of interest
centre of peripheral nations = transmission belt for the values of core nations
For
the majority of the people in peripheral states
the majority of the people in centre states
Effects
clearly negative
largely in their interest
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Imperialism = a dominance relation between nations.
economy:
relationship motivated by the need for expanding markets via imperialistic means.
5 types of imperialism:
Economic
- development and modernization models of centre = must be
imitated by periphery
- primary goods vs. manufactured goods.
Political
democracy and liberalism
Military
only the centre has
- the appropriate industrial capacity
- a social structure compatible with a modern army
Communication non-transfer of technologies
Cultural
acculturation
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5. World System Theory (not Systems!)
Immanuel Wallerstein
- The Modern World System (book, 1974)
- 'The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative
Analysis' (article, 1974)
Draws heavily from:
• Dependency Theory
• Galtung's Structural Imperialism
• Fernand Braudel ("Longue durée", long term view)
World System Theory = a macro-sociological perspective that explains the "capitalist world
economy" as a "total social system"
the logic of the international system → at a level superior to that of the state
WST = a very important historical dimension
→ helps understand the historical changes involved in the rise of the modern world
WST traces the current global economic inequality to the rise of the Western political and
economic domination, especially the acceleration of that control after the onset of the
Western-centered industrial revolution in the mid-1700s – Longue durée (Fernand Braudel)
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Historical origin = the rise of the Western political and economic domination
↓
global expansion
↓
creation of a world economy extended beyond the political boundaries of any one empire
(≠ earlier empire systems: not a single political unit)
↓
periphery exploited by the core
↓
distorted development
↓
vast economic, social and political disparities between the core and the periphery
The system is divided into
periphery - semi-periphery - core
(+ external areas: Russia)
Core
• benefit the most from the capitalist world economy
• control world trade and monopolise manufactured goods
Semiperiphery
• core regions in decline or rising peripheries
• buffers between core and peripheries
• exploited by the core and exploiters of peripheries
e.g. Portugal, South Korea
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Periphery provide primary products for both semi-periphery and core
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• LDCs = poor because they are exploited by the core for low cost, low profit primary
products
• Declining terms of trade
• Investment profits leak from the periphery to the core
Eduardo Galeano, Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin
America, 1971)
System-wide change ← changing the economic model of western-dominated capitalism.
Neo-Marxist Theory
•
•
•
•
Strengths
Weaknesses
Offers a developing perspective of the
• Overemphasis on economic relations.
world.
Politico-strategic actors are not addressed.
Captures the reality of uneven world
• State is autonomous and not a passive
development.
agent of the capitalist class. It can increase
its power by maintaining mass popularity.
Takes a global (systemic) viewpoint,
rooted in history.
• Too much focus on external factors.
Ignores internal factors.
Explains inequality and exploitation of the
Third World.
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Please avoid the following statements taken from previous exam scripts.
They are MISTAKEN:
This can relate to the theory of marcism. Marcism is ...
Immanulstein
The proponents of Constructivism were, to name a few, Immanuel
Wallerstein and Karl Marx.
the World Systems Theory developed by Kant.
The IR theory of Realism proposed by Wallerstein
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The Third (or Fourth or second stage of the
Third) Great Debate:
Positivism - Post-Positivism
Is scientific knowledge objective?
Epistemology = the theory of knowledge
the ways and means by which we come to know something about the world
Previous theories → "objective laws"
The reality of IR can be known with means
inspired by hard sciences
Interests and identities = fixed
↓
POSITIVIST or RATIONALIST theories
POST-POSITIVIST, REFLECTIVIST or
COGNITIVIST theories → the
importance of human reflexion for
international politics
Habermas / Frankfurt school:
we can reflect on our history and use this to
change the course of history
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Jürgen Habermas:
Quentin Skinner (1985) The Return of Grand Theory in the Human Sciences
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First half of the 1990 :
Positivism - Post-positivism debate = the present IR Great Debate
Ole Waever, 'Figures on international thought: introducing persons instead of paradigms,' in Iver B. Neumann and Ole Waever, The Future of
International Relations: Masters in the Making? (Routledge, 1997).
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Ontology = how we see or understand the world
ex.: Marxist ontology → exploitation
(Jackson and Sorensen)
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'Radical' post-positivist (reflectivist)
theories:
Critical Theory
"Theory is always for someone and for some purpose." Knowledge is not neutral.
A post-positivist neo-Marxist theory inspired by the Frankfurt School.
Robert Cox, Andrew Linklater
Postmodernism It has replaced Marxism as the most radical IR
theory. Denies that knowledge has a basis.
Feminism
Historical Sociology
International Normative Theory
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6. Constructivism
The main post-positivist theory.
Social world ≠ a material object outside human consciousness
↓
focus on
• ideas and beliefs that inform the actors
• shared understandings between them
↓
Intersubjectivity = common understanding:
intersubjective beliefs (widely) shared among people
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According to constructivist philosophy, the social world is not a given: it is not something
‘out there’ that exists independent of the thoughts and ideas of the people involved in it. It
is not an external reality whose laws can be discovered by scientific research and explained
by scientific theory as positivists and behaviouralists argue. The social and political world
is not part of nature. There are no natural laws of society or economics or politics. History
is not an evolving external process that is independent of human thought and ideas. That
means that sociology or economics or political science or the study of history cannot be
objective ‘sciences’ in the strict positivist sense of the word.
• social facts (e.g. sovereignty and human rights) exist because of human agreement
• brute facts (e.g. mountains) are independent of such agreements
International system = constituted by ideas, not by material forces
Max Weber emphasized that the social world is fundamentally
different from the natural world of physical phenomena. Human
beings rely on ‘understanding’ of each other’s actions and
assigning ‘meaning’ to them. In order to comprehend human
interaction, we cannot merely describe it in the way we describe
physical phenomena, such as a boulder falling off a cliff; we
need a different kind of interpretive understanding, or
‘verstehen’. Is the pat of another person’s face a punishment or
a caress? We cannot know until we assign meaning to the act.
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Weber concluded that ‘subjective understanding is the specific
characteristic of sociological knowledge’.
(Jackson and Sørensen)
Main
authors
Nicholas Onuf
Firedrich Kratochwil
John Ruggie
Martha Finnemore
Alexander Wendt
Main
element
The social character of IR.
"Homo sociologicus"
Premises There are several constructivist branches. Most try to find a via media between
radical post-positivists (e.g. postmodernists) and positivists:
- knowledge of the social world=possible
- ideas, knowlege=important role in IR.
Interest and identity = evolve, not fixed
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IR vision Norms=major role in the evolution of the international system
States interact and learn → change their identity
This changes the international environment
All post-positivists
social sciences = no objective truth, true across time and place
Constructivists
no objective truth, true across time and place
BUT
they do make "truth claims"
that are always contingent and partial interpretations of a complex
world
Other post-positivist even "truth claims" are not possible
("critical") schools
truth is always connected to dominant ways of thinking
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truth and power cannot be separated
main task = unmask the core relationship between truth and power,
criticize dominant versions of thinking that claim to be true
Constructivism sees self-interested states as the key actors in world politics; their actions
are determined not by anarchy but by the ways states socially “construct” accepted images
of reality and then respond to the meanings they give to power politics, so as their
definitions change, cooperative practices can evolve.
Alexander Wendt
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Alexander Wendt
Shared understandings, expectations, or knowledge
↓
Social structures = 3 elements: define (in part) social structures
• shared knowledge
↓
• material resources
constitute:
• practices
• the actors in a situation
• the nature of their relationships
(cooperative or conflictual)
‘500 British nuclear weapons are less threatening to the United States than 5 North Korean
nuclear weapons because the British are friends and the North Koreans are not’
Power and interest have the effects they do in virtue of the ideas that make them up.
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Wendt's three cultures of anarchy
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Wendt's three cultures of anarchy ("anarchy is what states make of it"):
Degrees of cultural interiorization:
3rd - legitimacy
EU
2nd - price (=interest)
EEC
1st - force
WWII
Hobbes Locke Kant ← international culture
enemy rival friend ← relation between states
The frequency of wars depends on the type of culture.
Groups of states can evolve toward a Kantian community
↓
the Western security community
Security can be improved if ways of thinking change.
Importance of
• norms
• international organization
↓
socialization of states
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Examples:
- the progressive international rejection of apartheid = creation, diffusion and respect of a
new international norm;
- the transformation of the interests and identity of former communist states that became
'normal' actors of the international system.
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Tutorial Questions
Week 1: The Inter-Paradigm Debates
1. What are the common assumptions shared by Neo-Liberals and Neo-Realists? Do their
arguments address all the issues in international politics?
2. No one theory of International Politics can explain the range of issues and activities that
fall under the ambit of International Politics. Critically assess the foregoing statement.
3. Explain Constructivism and outline the way it differs from previous mainstream
theories.
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