Title
Power and International Order
M12053 (20 credits)
Level
Taught
2
Autumn Semester
Module Convenor:
Dr Catherine Gegout
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Content: ......................................................................................... 3
Educational Aims: .............................................................................................. 3
Learning Outcomes: ........................................................................................... 3
Module Evaluation: ............................................................................................. 4
Seminar Titles: .................................................................................................. 5
Week 1. No seminar ........................................................................................ 5
Week 2. Introduction 28/09 .............................................................................. 5
Week 3. Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince 05/10 ................................................... 5
Week 4. E.H. Carr – The Twenty Years Crisis: 1919-1939 12/10............................ 7
Week 5. Edward Said – Orientalism 19/10 .......................................................... 8
Week. 6 Carl von Clausewitz – On War 26/10 ..................................................... 9
Week 7. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – The Communist Manifesto 02/11 .......... 10
Week 8. Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness 09/11 ............................................ 11
Week 9. Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics 16/11 ............... 12
Week 10. Stanley Hoffmann, Duties Beyond Borders 23/11 ................................ 13
Week 11. Jürgen Habermas, The Postnational Constellation 30/11 ....................... 14
Week 12. Revision 07/12 ................................................................................ 15
Method and Frequency of Class: ......................................................................... 15
Method of Assessment: ..................................................................................... 15
Reading Information: ........................................................................................ 15
Coursework Support: ........................................................................................ 16
Guidance to Essay Writing: ................................................................................ 16
Assessed Essay Titles: ...................................................................................... 17
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Summary of Content:
A study of the following books:
Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince
E.H. Carr – The Twenty Years Crisis: 1919-1939
Edward Said – Orientalism
Carl von Clausewitz – On War
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – The Communist Manifesto
Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness
Alexander Wendt – Social Theory of International Politics
Stanley Hoffmann – Duties Beyond Borders
Jürgen Habermas, The Postnational Constellation
Educational Aims:
This module aims to give students:
This module gives students the unique opportunity to study a selected range of
fundamental texts, which have a crucial and seminal influence on the development of
International Relations, and on the study of war and peace, culture and strategy.
Using these texts, the aim is both to analyse the growth of the discipline of
International Relations, and assess how these texts reflect and inform key themes and
debates, such as: the creation of a world society, the different interpretations of power
and national interest, the concepts of ethics and intervention, human security, racism
and emancipation, motives underlying conflicts, genocide, and conditions necessary for
peace.
We will conduct in-depth discussions on the values of these texts, and be critical in our
analyses. In particular, we will: 1) evaluate how these texts reflect the wide range of
perspectives studied by International Relations scholars; 2) compare how different
concepts are analysed by the authors; and 3) examine how these works are informed
by their historical context, but also how they help us understand contemporary
problems.
This is the only module which concentrates exclusively on the study of books. It will
give you fundamental knowledge and understanding, which you will be able to use in
your other modules, and in your future professional life. You will become experts in
primary sources, and critical analysts of textbooks and newspaper articles which use
terms such as realpolitik, prestige, norms and racism without really defining or
understanding them.
Learning Outcomes:
These will be:
i)
Knowledge and understanding:
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It is intended that the module will allow for students to read and study all the books
on the reading list in depth. Students will also gain a greater understanding of how to
discriminate between theoretical approaches and apply this effectively in their own
research. Students will also be introduced to key themes in International Relations
and shown how they are dealt with by different authors. The critical reading and
writing skills of students shall also be developed through independent study and
research. Presentation skills shall be developed and the ability to contribute to
seminar discussions.
ii)
Intellectual skills:
-
iii)
Synthesis of information, evaluation of competing explanations, applying theory
to policy, formulation of one’s own reasoned argument
Research on primary and secondary literature
Professional/Practical skills:
iv)
Research skills
Capacity to carry out independent and team work
Capacity to produce written work and to give effective oral presentations
Transferable & Key skills:
v)
Read primary and secondary sources on a regular basis
Capacity to analyse critically in writing
Capacity to respect deadlines
Capacity to present work with notes
IT skills:
-
Word
Use of databases on secondary literature
Module Evaluation:
Evaluation and feedback are crucial to the success of any module. The School wants
students to have their say on Politics modules. Therefore modules are formally
evaluated on a biennial basis, so please use this opportunity to have your say. If you
have any other comments or queries regarding this module, please contact the Module
Convenor.
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Seminar Titles:
The weekly lecture/seminar titles are as follows:
Week 1. No seminar
Week 2. Introduction 28/09
Seminar questions
What makes a book a modern classic of International Relations?
To what extent do International Relations theory and practice reflect each other?
Indicative Reading List
Bartelson, Jens, ‘Short circuits: society and tradition in international relations theory’,
Review of International Studies, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp.339-360, 1996.
Brown, C. Nardin T, and Rengger N., International Relations in Political Thought,
Cambridge: CUP 2002.
Cox, Michael, Dunne, Tim and Booth, Ken, ‘Empires, systems and states: great
transformations in international politics’, Review of International Studies, Vol. 27,
Special Issue, pp. 1-15, 2001.
Dunne, T., ‘Mythology or Methodology: Traditions in International Theory,’ Review of
International Studies, Vol. 19, n. 3, 1993.
Holden, Gerard, ‘Who contextualizes the contextualizers? Disciplinary history and the
discourse of IR discourse.’ Review of International Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 253270, 2002.
Olsen, William C. and A. J. R. Groom, International Relations Theory Then and Now:
Origins and Trends in Interpretation, London: Harper Collins, 1991.
Schmidt, Brian C., ‘The Historiography of Academic International Relations’, Review of
International Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2002.
Walt, M., ‘International Relations: One World Many Theories’, Foreign Policy, Spring,
pp. 29-47, 1998.
Week 3. Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince 05/10
Key text: Machiavelli Niccolò, The Prince, London Penguin Books, 2003.
Few politicians admit to reading Machiavelli’s Prince, nevertheless Machiavelli remains
a byword in international politics.
Seminar questions:
Why does Machiavelli’s 500 year old treatise seem so modern?
What is the place of morality in International Relations? Why is Machiavelli sceptical
about morality in International Relations?
Why does Machiavelli’s work seem so accessible as compared to many more recent
international relations texts?
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How do the individual, the domestic, and the international levels interact in
Machiavelli’s Prince?
‘Machiavelli’s treatise has an emancipatory dimension, notwithstanding his focus on a
leader’s exercise of power.’ Discuss.
What lessons does Machiavelli have for contemporary international politics and IR
theories?
To what extent does the practice of international relations reflect the idea that is
better to be feared than loved?
What guidance might Machiavelli offer to the West in Darfur?
Further reading
Berlin, I., ‘The Originality of Machiavelli’, in Against the Current (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1981).
Berridge, G. R., 'Machiavelli: human nature, good faith, and diplomacy', Review of
International Studies, 27, 4 (October 2001).
Fischer, M. ‘Machiavelli’s Theory of Foreign Politics’ in B. Frankel (ed) The Roots of
Realism (London: Frank Cass, 1996).
Frankel, B. (ed.), Realism: Restatements and Renewal (London: Frank Cass, 1996),
chs. I and V.
Haslam, J., No Virtue like Necessity: Realist Thought in IR since Machiavelli (New
Haven: York University Press, 2002).
Holmes, S., Passions and Constraint (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1995), chs. 3
and 4.
Meinecke, F., Machiavellism (New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1998).
Paret, P. (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age (1986).
Rosenberg, J., ‘What’s the Matter with Realism?’ Review of International Studies
(October 1990).
Skinner, Q., Machiavelli (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981).
Skinner, Q., The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, 2 vols. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1978).
Sobek, D. ‘Machiavelli’s Legacy: Domestic Politics and International Conflict’
International Studies Quarterly, 49 (2) 2005: 179-204.
Tilly, C., The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1975).
Walker, R.B.J., ‘Realism, Change, and International Political Theory’, International
Studies Quarterly, 31 (1987).
Walker, R. B. J. (1992) Inside/outside: International Relations as Political Theory.
Cambridge: CUP.
Wight, M., Power Politics (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979).
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Week 4. E.H. Carr – The Twenty Years Crisis: 1919-1939 12/10
Key text: Carr, E. H., The Twenty Years Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the
Study of International Relations: With a New Introduction by Michael Cox. New York:
Palgrave MacMillan, 2001 [1939].
Seminar Questions
What is the ‘crisis’ in The Twenty Years Crisis? How effectively does Carr answer his
own question?
Is Carr really a realist? How does his argument differ from realpolitik?
How does Carr define the national interest?
Why does Carr argue that international morality is the morality of the Great Powers?
Further Reading
Carr, E. H., Conditions of Peace (London: Macmillan, 1942).
Claude, I. Power and International Relations (New York: Random House, 1962).
Cox, M. (ed.), E.H. Carr: A Critical Reappraisal (London: Palgrave, 2000).
Cox, M., ‘Will the real E. H. Carr please stand up?’, International Affairs, Vol. 75, No.
3, pp. 643-53, 1999.
Deutscher, Tamara, ‘E. H. Carr – a personal memoir’, New Left Review, No. 137, pp.
78-86, Jan/Feb 1983.
Donnelly, Jack, Realism and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2000.
Falk, Richard, ‘The Critical Realist Tradition and the Demystification of Inter-State
Power: E. H. Carr, Hedley Bull and Robert Cox’, in Gill, Stephen and Mittleman, James,
Innovation and Transformation in International Studies, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.
Fox, T. R. ‘E. H. Carr and Political Realism: Vision and revision’, Review of
International Studies, No. 11, 1985.
Gellner, Ernest, ‘Nationalism reconsidered and E. H. Carr’, Review of International
Studies, Vol. 18, pp. 285-93, Oct. 1992.
Goldfischer, David, ‘E. H. Carr: a “historical realist” approach for the globalisation era’,
Review of International Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 697- 717, 2002.
Holsti, K., ‘Scholarship in an Era of Anxiety: the study of international politics during
the Cold War’, Review of International Studies, 24 Special Issue, pp. 17-46, Dec.
1998.
Howe, P., 'The Utopian Realism of E. H. Carr', Review of International Studies, 20, 3
(1994).
Jones, C., E. H. Carr and International Relations: The Duty to Lie (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Jones, Charles, ‘Carr, Mannheim and a post-positivist science of international
relations’, Political Studies, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 232-46, 1997.
James, A., 'The Realism of Realism: The State and the Study of International Relations',
Review of International Studies 15, 3 (1989).
Lebow, R. N. ‘Classical Realism’ in Dunne, Kurki & Smith (eds) International Relations
Theories: discipline and diversity.
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Linklater, Andrew, ‘The Transformation of Political Community: E. H. Carr, Critical
Theory and International Relations’, Review of International Studies, Vol. 23, pp. 32138, 1997.
Molloy, Sean The Hidden History of Realism (New York: Palgrave, 2006)
Morgenthau, H., 'The Political Science of E. H. Carr', World Politics, 1, 1 (1948-49).
Niebuhr, R., Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics (Hew York:
Scribner, 1932).
Rosenberg, J., 'What's the Matter with Realism?', Review of International Studies, 16, 4
(1990).
Smith, M. J., Realist Thought from Weber to Kissinger (Baton Rouge: Louisiana
University Press, 1986.
Taylor, T., 'Power Politics', in T. Taylor (ed.), Approaches and Theory in International
Relations (London: Longmans, 1978).
Vasquez, John, The Power of Power Politics: A Critique (London: Pinter, 1979).
Wight, M., Power Politics, eds. H. Bull and C. Holbraad (Leicester: Leicester University
Press, 1978).
Wight, M., International Theory: The Three Traditions, eds. G. Wight and B. Porter
(Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1991).
Wilson, P., 'Carr and his Critics: Responses to The Twenty Years' Crisis', in M. Cox (ed.),
E. H. Carr: A Critical Reappraisal (London: Macmillan, 2000).
Wilson, P., 'E. H. Carr: The Revolutionist's Realist', theglobalsite.ac.uk, December 2000.
Wilson, P., 'Radicalism for a Conservative Purpose: The Peculiar Realism of E. H. Carr',
Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 30, 1 (2001).
Wolfers, A., Discord and Collaboration: Essays on International Politics (Baltimore: John
Hopkins University Press, 1962).
Week 5. Edward Said – Orientalism 19/10
Key Text: Said Edward, Orientalism, London: Penguin, 1978.
Seminar Questions
What does Edward Said mean by orientalism? And by understanding the Orient as
“almost a European invention”?
To what does the concept of orientalism overlap with Samuel Huntington’s clash of
civilizations thesis?
Explain Cannadine’s concept of ornamentalism. How does Cannadine question Said’s
concept of orientalism?
How has Said’s concept of orientalism been taken up in East European studies? See
e.g. Todorova’s Imagining the Balkans.
Further reading
Cannadine, David (2001) Ornamentalism: How the British saw their Empire. London:
Allen Lane.
Heartfield, James (2002) The Death of the Subject Explained. Sheffield: Sheffield
Hallam University. a) Chapter Six Algeria and the defeat of French Humanism available
at
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/defeat-frenchM12053 Power & International Order
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humanism.htm b) And further section: Hegel Dispirited: the reification of the Other in
Kojève, DeBeauvoir and Sartre, available at http://www.static-ops.org/essay_3.htm
Huntington, Samuel (1997) The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World
Order.
London:
Simon
&
Schuster.
Chap1
especially
–
at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/books/chap1/clashofcivilizations.htm
Little, Douglas (200) American Orientalism: the United States and the Middle East
Since 1945. London: I. B. Tauris.
Macfie, A. (2000) (ed.) Orientalism: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
New Left Review (2003) ‘Remembering Edward Said 1935-2003’, (24), p. 59+, NovDec.
Said, Edward (1985) Orientalism Reconsidered, Photocopy SLC.
Todorova, Maria (1997) Imagining the Balkans. New York :Oxford University Press.
Tuasted, D (2003) ‘Neo-orientalism and the new barbarism thesis: aspects of symbolic
violence in the Middle East conflict(s), Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 591599.
Week. 6 Carl von Clausewitz – On War 26/10
Key text: Clausewitz, On War, abridged by Beatrice Heuser (Oxford World’s
Classics, 2007).
Students should read all of this abridged version. The introduction and notes
are clear and helpful. On War was written between 1815 and 1830. It was first
published posthumously (in German) in 1832-34. Beatrice Heuser’s edition is
an abridgement of the standard English edition:
Clausewitz, On War, edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret
(Princeton University Press, 1976).
The editors’ introductions to this edition are very good.
Seminar questions:
1. Who was Clausewitz?
2. What was he trying to do in this book?
3. What are his big ideas?
4. Which of them seems most striking or profound?
5. Can Clausewitz be categorized according to the conventional categories of
realist, idealist, etc?
6. Why has On War achieved classic status? Put differently, how is that a long,
unfinished treatise on such a specialist subject, written nearly two centuries
ago, is still widely read?
7. What is his relevance now – what is he read for?
8. How can Clausewitzian thinking be applied to the so-called war on terror,
and in particular the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Further reading:
Aron, R., Clausewitz (Routledge, 1976).
Bassford, C., Clausewitz in English (Oxford University Press, 1994).
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Cimbala, S. J., Clausewitz and Escalation (Cass, 1991).
Cimbala, S.J., Clausewitz and Chaos (Praeger, 2000).
Freedman, L. (ed.), War (Oxford University Press, 1994).
Gat, A., The Origins of Military Thought (Clarendon Press, 1989).
Handel, M., Clausewitz and Modern Strategy (Cass, 1986).
Handel, M., Masters of War (Cass, 2001).
Heuser, B., Reading Clausewitz (Pimlico, 2002).
Howard, M., Clausewitz (Oxford Past Masters, 1983).
Lebow, R. N., The Tragic Vision of Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2003),
ch 5.
Paret, P., Clausewitz and the State (Clarendon Press, 1976).
Paret, P., Understanding War (Princeton University Press, 1992).
Smith, H., On Clausewitz (Palgrave, 2005).
Smith, R., The Utility of Force (Penguin, 2006).
Strachan, H., Clausewitz’s On War (Atlantic, 2007).
Week 7. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – The Communist Manifesto
02/11
Key text: The Communist Manifesto, either in Penguin Classics, with an
introduction by Gareth Stedman Jones, or in Oxford World’s Classics, with an
introduction by David McLellan.
Students should read the whole work – the Manifesto itself, which is
comparatively short, and the introductory matter.
The Manifesto was first published (in German) in 1848. The standard English
editions use Samuel Moore’s translation of 1888.
Seminar questions:
1. What kind of work is the CM? Why was it written?
2. What is Communist about it?
3. It has been called ‘the first great modernist work of art’. What is artistic
about it?
4. How does it speak to its time (1848)?
5. How does it speak to us now – what extent is it timeless?
6. Who were Marx and Engels?
7. Were they an odd couple? What was the nature of the partnership?
8. How does the CM relate to Marx’s other works, or to Marxism more
generally?
Further reading:
Other editions of the CM, e.g., with an introduction by A. J. P. Taylor (Penguin,
1967).
Berman, M., All That Is Solid Melts Into Air (Verso, 1983).
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Cowling, M. (ed.), The CM: New Interpretations (Edinburgh University Press,
1998).
Hunt, T., Marx’s General [Engels] (Metropolitan, 2009).
McLellan, D., Capital: A New Abridgement (Oxford World’s Classics, 2004).
Puchner, M., Poetry of the Revolution (Princeton University Press, 2006), ch 14.
Runciman, W. G., Great Books, Bad Arguments (Princeton University Press,
2010).
Wheen, F., Karl Marx (Fourth Estate, 1999).
Wheen, F., Marx’s Das Kapital (Atlantic, 2006).
Week 8. Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness 09/11
Key text: Heart of Darkness, either in Oxford World’s Classics, edited by Cedric
Watts, or in Penguin Classics, edited by Robert Hampson.
Students should read all of Heart of Darkness and if possible some more of
Conrad’s work – for example, two of the greatest political novels in the
language: Nostromo and The Secret Agent.
Heart of Darkness was first published in 1899.
Seminar questions:
1. Who was Joseph Conrad?
2. To what extent is HoD based on his own experiences? Or on historical
events?
3. What did he mean by ‘the heart of darkness’?
4. What is the book about?
5. It has been constantly interpreted and reinterpreted. Why is that?
6. Conrad was once called ‘a bloody racist’. Why, and with what justification?
7. Why does this work still seem so powerful and compelling?
8. HoD is a work of fiction. Does that matter, for our purposes?
9. What is the relationship between HoD and Francis Ford Coppola’s film,
Apocalypse Now (1979)?
10. To what extent can HoD be transposed, or applied, to other times and
places and contexts – to the Anglo-American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan,
for example?
Further reading:
There is a mountain of biographical and critical writing on Conrad. These works
focus on HoD:
Achebe, C., Hopes and Impediments (Heinemann, 1988).
Adams, R., Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness (Penguin, 1991).
Bloom, H., Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (Chelsea House, 1987).
Burden, R., Heart of Darkness (Macmillan, 1991).
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Dryden, L., Joseph Conrad and the Imperial Romance (St Martin’s Press, 2000).
Fothergill, A., Heart of Darkness (Open University Press, 1989).
Kiernan, V. G., The Lords of Humankind (Century Hutchinson, 1988).
Kimbrough, R., Heart of Darkness (Norton, 1988).
Murfin, R. C. (ed.), Heart of Darkness (St Martin’s Press, 1989).
Pakenham, T., The Scramble for Africa (Abacus, 1992).
White, A., Joseph Conrad and the Adventure Tradition (Cambridge University
Press, 1993).
Week 9. Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics 16/11
Key text: Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999
Seminar questions:
 Why was there a constructivist turn in the study of international relations
after the Cold War? Why is Wendt’s contribution usually considered the
most important?
 Do you agree that ‘anarchy is what states make of it’?
 What insights into international relations does Wendt’s theory give us
that other approaches miss? Can you think of an event, decision or policy
in international affairs that is better explained when viewed through
constructivist lenses than realist ones?
 Is Wendt’s influential variant of constructivism more or less radical than
others?
 ‘Constructivist approaches are susceptible to the criticisms that E. H. Carr
made of idealism sixty years ago.’ Discuss.
Further reading:
Adler, Emanuel, ‘Seizing the middle ground: Constructivism in world politics’,
European Journal of International Relations, 3: 319-363, 1997.
Guzzini, Stefano, ed., Constructivism and International Relations: Alexander
Wendt and his Critics, London, Routledge, 2006.
Hopf, Ted, ‘The promise of constructivism in international relations theory’,
International Security, 23: 171-200, 1998.
Kratochwil, Friedrich, The Puzzles of Politics: Inquiries into the Genesis and
Transformation of International Relations, London, Routledge, 2010.
Onuf, Nicholas, ‘Constructivism: A user’s guide’, in Vendulka Kubalkova,
Nicholas Onuf and Paul Kowert, eds., International Relations in a Constructed
World, London, M. E. Sharpe, 1998.
Price, Richard and Christian Reus-Smit, ‘Dangerous liaisons? Critical
international theory and constructivism’, European Journal of International
Relations, 4: 73-101, 1998.
Review of International Studies, ‘Forum on Alexander Wendt’s Social Theory of
International Politics’, 26: 123-180, 2000.
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Ruggie, John Gerard, Constructing the World Polity: Essays on International
Institutionalization, London, Routledge, 1998.
Wendt, Alexander, ‘Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction
of power politics’, International Organization, 46: 391-425, 1992.
Week 10. Stanley Hoffmann, Duties Beyond Borders 23/11
Key text: Stanley Hoffmann, Duties Beyond Borders: On the Limits and
Possibilities of Ethical International Politics, Syracuse, Syracuse University
Press, 1981
Seminar questions:
 What characteristics of international relations, according to Hoffmann,
impose limits on moral reasoning in conducting foreign policy?
 For Hoffmann, moral limitations on the use of force in international
relations must be based on ‘one of two sets of foundations’: the idea of
justice, or equal rights. What is the difference here? What consequences
follow from each? Which, in your view, is the surer foundation?
 What are the main lines of agreement and disagreement between
Hoffmann and Michael Walzer?
 What arguments does Hoffmann raise both in favour and against a
‘human rights policy’?
 How would a post-colonialist writer (such as Edward Said) respond to
Hoffmann’s approach to the issue of cultural relativism?
 ‘What do we owe whom, and why?’ Is Hoffmann’s response to this
question adequate?
 Hoffmann was one of the first International Relations academics to treat
the subject of international justice. Do any aspects of his argument now
appear dated? Are any of them potentially more salient?
Further reading
Beitz, Charles, Political Theory and International Relations, Princeton, Princeton
University Press, 1975.
Brock, Gillian, Global Justice: A Cosmopolitan Account, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2009.
Brown, Chris, Sovereignty, Rights and Justice: International Political Theory
Today, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2002.
Caney, Simon, Justice Beyond Borders: A Global Political Theory, Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 2006.
Erskine, Toni, Embedded Cosmopolitanism: Duties to Strangers and Enemies in
a World of Dislocated Communities, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Hutchings, Kimberly, Global Ethics: An Introduction, Cambridge, Polity Press,
2010.
Walzer, Michael, Just and Unjust Wars, 4th edition, New York, Basic Books,
2006.
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Week 11. Jürgen Habermas, The Postnational Constellation 30/11
Key text: Jürgen Habermas, The Postnational Constellation, Cambridge, Polity
Press, 2001
Seminar questions:
 Who is Jürgen Habermas?
 What is Critical Theory? What is it critical of?
 How does Habermas defend Daniel Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing
Executioners in chapter 2? Why did the defence cause such a public
controversy?
 According to Habermas, what is the difference between nationalism and
‘constitutional
patriotism’?
Are
constitutional
patriotism
and
cosmopolitanism in tension, or do they in fact reinforce one another?
 Are you persuaded that globalization means for the future of the nationstate what Habermas thinks it means?
 Evaluate Habermas’s claims as to the connections between international
law and peace.
 Think back to your study of Said’s Orientalism. What are the main
philosophical differences between Habermas and Said? Who do you find
more convincing?
Further reading
Brown, Chris, ‘”Turtles all the way down”: Anti-foundationalism, Critical Theory
and International Relations’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 23:
213-238, 1994.
Habermas, Jürgen, ‘Discourse ethics: Notes on a program of philosophical
justification’, in Seyla Benhabib and Fred Dallmayr, eds., The Communicative
Ethics Controversy, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1990.
Habermas, Jürgen, The Divided West, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2006.
Jahn, Beate, ‘One step forward, two steps back: Critical Theory as the latest
edition of liberal idealism’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 27:
613-641, 1998.
Linklater, Andrew, The Transformation of Political Community: Ethical
Foundations of the Post-Westphalian Era, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1998.
Linklater, Andrew, Critical Theory and World Politics: Citizenship, Sovereignty
and Humanity, London, Routledge, 2007.
Outhwaite, William, Habermas, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2009.
Review of International Studies, ‘Forum on Habermas’, 31: 127-209.
Wyn-Jones, Richard, Critical Theory and World Politics, Boulder, Lynne Rienner
Press, 2001.
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Week 12. Revision 07/12
Seminar discussions will be based on readings listed above, please ensure that you
have familiarised yourself with the relevant required readings before the seminars.
Please note that registers will be taken in seminars, should you be unable to attend,
please email the Module Convenor.
Method and Frequency of Class:
Activity
Number of Sessions
Duration of a Session
Weekly Seminar
11
2 hours
Location of Seminar and Time:
GROUP ONE:
Tuesday 4-6pm, LASS A3
GROUP TWO:
Wednesday 9-11am, ARCS B30
GROUP THREE:
Thursday 9-11am, ARCS B43
GROUP FOUR
Thursday 3-5pm, PORT C27
Day:
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Method of Assessment:
This 20 credit module will be assessed on the following basis:
Assessment Type
Coursework 1
Coursework 2
Weight
50%
50%
Requirements
One 2500-word Essay
One 2500-word Essay
You must submit an electronic copy of your essay via the module’s WebCT site, taking
note of the individual ID number that will be generated once you have successfully
uploaded it. This process is self-explanatory.
After you have done that – and only then - you must submit two hard copies of the
essay to the School Office by the deadline. A submission sheet should be completed
and attached to the essay. You are required to enter the WebCT ID number on the
cover sheet, as proof that you have already electronically submitted the essay. The
submission sheet and the top of page of each copy of your essay should then be date
stamped, and submitted to the essay chest outside the School Office. Please note that
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the School Office will be open from 10am till 4pm (Monday to Friday) on submission
days. Essays handed in after 4pm will be stamped as late and the usual University
penalties will be applied.
The electronic copies will be scanned to detect plagiarism. It is therefore
imperative that you consult the Student Handbook, which outlines what is counted as
plagiarism and advises you how to avoid it. Failure to submit an electronic copy even if
you submit two hard copies on time will mean that the essay will be counted as having
not been submitted.
The standard University penalty for late submission should be 5% absolute standard
University scale per normal working day, until the mark reaches zero. For example, an
original mark of 67% would be successively reduced to 62%, 57%, 52%, 47% etc.
Normal working days include vacation periods, but not weekends or public holidays.
Applications for extensions will not normally be considered retrospectively. Any
student wishing to apply for an extension should collect and complete the necessary
forms from the School Office.
Reading Information/ General textbooks
Chris Brown, Understanding International Relations, Palgrave, Fourth edition, 2009.
Scott Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, Fourth Edition. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Tim Dunne, Milya Kurki and Steve Smith, International Relations Theories, Discipline
and Diversity, OUP, 2007.
Umberto Eco, Interpretation and Overinterpretation, CUP, 1992.
Richard Ned Lebow, The Tragic Vision of Politics, CUP, 2006.
Richard Ned Lebow, A Cultural Theory of International Relations, CUP, 2010, ch 1, 2, 9
and 10
Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal, The Oxford Handbook of International
Relations, Oxford Handbooks of Political Science, OUP, 2008.
G. Runciman, Great Books, Bad Arguments, Princeton, 2010.
Cynthia Weber, International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction, 3rd ed.,
Routledge, 2009
Coursework Support:
The Hallward Library and Halls of Residence have a number of networked PCs to
facilitate access to information on holdings.
As Module Convenor please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any difficulties
with the module or assessed work. I will be available without appointment during my
office hours. Appointments to meet at other times can be made by calling me on my
direct line or via email. My contact details together with office hours are noted at the
front of this module outline.
Guidance to Essay Writing:
A short guide for students on essay writing skills and an outline of the marking criteria
used by staff is available on the School intranet.
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Assessed Essay Titles:
For Tuesday 2 November 2010: choose ONE of the following questions:
1. Which concepts used by Carr indicate that he is not a realist as defined by
international relations theorists?
2. To what extent is the concept of orientalism useful to understand not only
current relations between the West and the Middle East, but also all post-Cold
War international relations?
For Friday 10 December 2010: choose ONE of the following questions:
1. On War, The Communist Manifesto, and Heart of Darkness are radically different
texts, yet each has spoken to several generations of readers, in many countries.
What is it about these texts, and the ideas they contain, that gives them such a
timeless, borderless appeal?
2. International relations are sometimes said to be a realm of repetition and
recurrence. But can international politics be different from what they now are?
Discuss with reference to at least two of the following authors: Wendt (on
anarchy), Hoffmann (on the possibilities of an ethical foreign policy) or
Habermas (on progress)."
Reminder: submission date is before 4.00 pm on Tuesday 2 November 2010
and Friday 10 December 2010.
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