Critical theories

Marxism:
- inspired by Karl Marx
- retained influence even after cold war
- core elements:
materialist conception of history economic factors
determining force in human history
classes main actors in politics
bourgeoisie and proletariat
activism in scholarship enabling revolution
lenin turned Marxism into an IR theory
-

many theories and perspectives inspired by Marxism what they

all have in common:
1. the world is still a material one
2. most of the world is still run by wealthy capitalist countries
3. capitalist states attempt to remake the world according to
them
4. instability characterizes the global economy
5. governments serve capitalists

ever since the end of the cold war modern-day Marxist have
really pushed the sense of world democratization and their
world view on others
modern day Marxist theories say that capitalism is going to
suffer a catastrophe and be re vamped
governments ultimately serve capitalists and centers of
wealth ( financial crisis of 2008 where Washington bailed out
the big businesses)

Modern day Marxist theory:

Dependency theory:
- neo Marxist theory that highlights structural imbalances within
international capitalism that impose dependency and
underdevelopment on poorer states and regions
- core, periphery, and semi periphery
- inherent injustices and in equalities within this system
Critical theory:
- Gramsci: why had revolution not occurred yet in Europe?

Ideological (cultural) hegemony: the idea of ideological

hegemony, that the capitalist class system is not only upheld by
un equal political and economic power but also by ideas and
powers of the bourgeoisie class. There way of thinking and ideas
had become mainstream which was supporting capitalism
Cox: all theory is subjective
anti globalization and anti capitalist movements: influenced
by inherent inequalities in the capitalist system
battle of Seattle: a meeting of the WTO where over 50K
activist protested outside of the summit headquarters and shut
down the meeting
activist oriented and expert oriented: been important to
exposing and identifying the hegemonic capitalist system
occupy movement
significance?
Inequality truly increasing worldwide? Evidence point to no.
when you look at actual figures it points to that income
inequality in the US is yes rising however not in the rest of the
world.

Critical theory Frankfurt school:

- concerned with questions re. culture, international society,
international ethics, security
- encourages us to:
1. think about the link between knowledge and politics
2. be committed to emancipatory politics: dedication to
uncovering the structures of oppression and inequality in
international politics
3. be open to a more inclusive, cosmopolitan notion of political
identity does not have to equate to a national identity: we do
not have to be citizens of a state and our identities do not
need to be in line with that of the state
Criticisms:
- ideas are not only influenced by material reality
- the colony argument and WW1 is incorrect
- capitalism and the modern economy is not completely unfettered
- strategic concerns and not economic ones often dominate
foreign policy
Social constructivism:
- the importance of norms and ideas
- reality is what you think it is: law only takes on meaning if
people subscribe to it and it takes on meaning, if no one believed

it or followed it then it wouldnt be a legal system, they focus on

these constructed issues
alexander Wendt: anarchy is what states make of it: the key
model of constructivism, states act accordingly to how they
perceive the system
social construction of reality: norms and ideas
social facts: so much of politics is dependent on what humans
believe of them, such as money, the law, or terrorism. It is how
we interpret them
if everybody says no, it must be true: socialization, the idea
that we are very much conditioned by what is going on in society
around us
socialization
groupthink: very powerful, can often stifle, doubt and descent,
in a group of people you are all going to tend to agree to a
certain version of what is going on in the world.
power politics: this can be over come: we dont have to have a
political system of this way. States often want to act to be seen
as legitimacy for the sake of legitimacy
nationalism can be overcome: people are only nationalistic
because their regimes issue nationalist rhetoric and propaganda,
it is learned under certain conditions and can be un learned
Liberalism preferred to realism: fundamental disagreement
with realists about power and how it deals with political reality,
mainly in this shared belief

Example: what does social constructivism say about the Rwandan

genocide? Re label of genocide and identity construction in
Rwanda?
-

genocide investigation: language that calls for an international

investigation of human rights and possible violations of the
genocide convention. Legal at state was worried about this
yesterday. Genocide finding could commit the US govt to
actually do something a discussion paper on Rwanada prepared
by an official in the office of the secretary of Defense dated Mar
1 1994
if we use the word genocide and are seen as doing nothing,
what will be the effect on the November election? Susan rice
of the national security council and later Obamas ambassador to
the UNN at interagency

Criticisms:
- ideas are still shaped by social, economic and political factors
- can become far too subjective
- can turn into relativism

Post colonialism:
1. relationships between former colonial powers and their colonies:
we only see colonial areas being paid attention to unless there
was a bigger issue within them.
2. perspectives of those who lived in the colonies
3. use of alternative study materials
4. colonialism may be officially over, but unofficially it can still exist
-

key figures and events:

establishment of the non aligned movement in 1961
Che Guevara: a theorist and militant who was devoted to the
cause of colonies to de colonize
Frantz Fanon the wretched of the earth : focused on the
psychological control of France on Algeria
Edward said orientalism :

Rwanda Documentary: Ghosts of Rwanda