scholarly journals The false promise of global IR: exposing the paradox of dependent development

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Ersel Aydinli ◽  
Onur Erpul
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Structural Defect ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Dependent Development ◽  
Disciplinary Practices ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Linguistic Backgrounds ◽  
Local Languages

Abstract Concerned about the continued dominance of Western International Relations (IR) theories, the global IR community has proposed various measures to address disciplinary hierarchies through encouraging dialogue and pluralism. By investigating the pedagogical preferences of instructors from 45 countries, this paper questions the global IR initiative's emancipatory potential, arguing that disciplinary practices in IR resemble those of dependent development. The study develops a new typology of IR theoretical (IRT) scholarship and examines the readings assigned in 151 IRT syllabi worldwide for evidence of similarity, replication, and assimilation. The findings show that mainstream core IRTs dominate syllabi globally, regardless of region, language of instruction, or instructors' educational/linguistic backgrounds. This domination extends to periphery scholars not using their own local products. Even when they do seek alternative approaches, they prefer to import core alternatives, that is, critical traditions, rather than homegrown IRTs. Finally, the results show that even in syllabi taught in local languages the readings remain dominated by core IRT works. These findings expose a structural defect in the current cry for global IR, by revealing the system's dependent development paradox. The paper concludes with suggestions for creating a symmetric interdependent structure, in the aim of achieving a genuine globalization of IR.

The Second Great Debate Revisited: Exploring the Impact of the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide in International Relations

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-476
Author(s):  
Quan Li
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Great Debate ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Science Journals

Abstract Half a century after the “Second Great Debate” in international relations (IR) started, scholars still perceive the qualitative versus quantitative division as their principal divide, and yet we do not have a good grasp of the impact of this divide. My research explores how the divide shaped the incentives and behaviors of scholars and influenced the organization of our academic communities and knowledge production. The impact of the divide expressed itself in the distribution of research among methodologies in terms of relative quantity and impact. Less obviously, and yet more importantly, the divide influenced the distribution of quantitative research among different institution types, across fields and journals, and with respect to policy engagement. Using the TRIP database of 7,792 IR articles in twelve top journals from 1980 to 2014, I classify journal articles into three categories—quantitative-only, qualitative-only, and mixed-methods—and categorize author institutions into similar types—publishing quantitative research only, producing nonquantitative work only, and publishing various proportions of quantitative research. Notably, qualitative and quantitative works switched positions over time in terms of relative quantity and impact, with quantitative research more likely published but only slightly more cited in the recent decade. More importantly, the divide produced other less obvious but more serious outcomes. Among 1,111 institutions that ever published IR research in twelve top journals over thirty-five years, two-thirds published nonquantitative research only; fifty-three institutions published more than half of all quantitative articles; institutions publishing quantitative-only or nonquantitative-only research constituted two modal categories. Political science journals published more quantitative research, persistently and with growing convergence; IR journals also evolved toward publishing more quantitative research though with persistent divergence and forming two clusters. Quantitative articles and political science journals were significantly less engaged in providing policy prescriptions than qualitative articles and IR journals. To overcome this lasting and self-perpetuating divide, we must better understand its impact, learn to appreciate alternative approaches, and change the way we train future scholars.

15. International and global security

2019 ◽  
pp. 240-255
Author(s):  
John Baylis
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Security ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Other ◽  
China Seas ◽  
Global Security ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Causes Of War ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter examines whether international relations, especially in an era of increasing globalization, are likely to be as violent in the future as they have been in the past. It asks whether globalization increases or decreases international security, which International Relations theories best help to provide an understanding of global security and insecurity, and what are the most important contemporary threats to international security. The chapter first considers existing disagreements about the causes of war and whether violence is always likely to remain with us. It then discusses traditional/classical realist and more contemporary neorealist and neoliberal perspectives on international security, along with a range of alternative approaches. It also explores recent debates about globalization and geopolitics and presents two case studies, one on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other on growing tensions in the South and East China Seas.

Theory across time: the privileging of time-less theory in international relations

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Invariant Theory ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Deep Level ◽  
Theory Construction ◽  
Clock Time ◽  
Spatiotemporal Model ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Time Invariant

How does the understanding of time and temporality in international relations (IR) shape the study of international politics? IR is centrally concerned with the study of issues such as armed conflict, but wars are events – a series of occurrences that only come into being through their relationship across time. The concept of time at work in the understanding of this event thus plays an inextricable role in the scholarship produced. IR shares an understanding of time that pervades (traditional) social science and is based on the Western notion of clock-time. This conception of time encourages a spatiotemporal model of the past that epistemologically privileges temporal understandings that value generalizable, time-invariant theory and discount temporal fluidity and context. These temporal commitments operate at a deep level, informing and shaping theory construction in important ways and de-emphasizing alternative approaches that may more accurately reflect the contingency of international events, discontinuities in political practice, and the radical shifts in international structures, which are often most in need of scholarly analysis. This article concludes that by treating temporality as a stand-alone issue, IR can better model and predict international political practices.

15. International and global security

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Baylis
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Security ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Other ◽  
China Seas ◽  
Global Security ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Causes Of War ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter examines whether international relations, especially in an era of increasing globalization, are likely to be as violent in the future as they have been in the past. It asks whether globalization increases or decreases international security, which International Relations theories best help to provide an understanding of global security and insecurity, and what are the most important contemporary threats to international security. The chapter first considers existing disagreements about the causes of war and whether violence is always likely to remain with us. It then discusses traditional/classical realist and more contemporary neorealist and neoliberal perspectives on international security, along with a range of alternative approaches. It also explores recent debates about globalization and geopolitics and presents two case studies, one on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other on growing tensions in the South and East China Seas.

scholarly journals Foreign Policy and National Interest: Realism and Its Critiques

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Munafrizal Manan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
Alternative Approaches

Realism stated that conflict or even war among countries are acceptable in order to achieve national interest. Such a view has become the mainstream in international relations (IR) both theoretically and practically. But it does not mean that realist views are the best approach to discuss foreign policy and national interest. Liberalism and global humanism can be used as alternative approaches to discuss it. From the perspective of liberalism and global humanism, foreign policy is not only reflecting national interest, but also dealing with human and global interest. By focussing on the issues of economic globalization, democracy, human rights, and environment, the approaches of liberalism and global humanism show that these issues have now become a part of foreign policy and national interest of countries. It means that if it comes to human and global interests, then countries choose to cooperate globally rather than to involve in conflict or war.

Interpreting the English school: History, science and philosophy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bevir ◽  
Ian Hall
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Final Part ◽  
English School ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
School History ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘Interpretivism and the English School of International Relations’. It distinguishes between what we term the interpretivist and structuralist wings of the school and argues that disagreement about its preferred approach to the study of international relations has generated confusion about what it stands for and weakened its capacity to respond to alternative approaches. It puts the case for a reconsideration of the underlying philosophical positions that the school wishes to affirm and suggests that a properly grounded interpretivism may serve it best. The final part of the article discusses the topics and arguments of the remaining pieces in the Special Issue.

The Spiral of Capitalism and Socialism: Toward Global Democracy. By Terry Boswell and Christopher Chase-Dunn. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 281p. $55.00 cloth, $23.50 paper.

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-252
Author(s):  
William R. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Theoretical Interpretation ◽  
World Systems ◽  
World Systems Theory ◽  
Global Democracy ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Alternative Approaches

In introductory international relations courses, we were once accustomed to contrast three alternative approaches: realism, liberalism, and Marxism. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the proclaimed triumph of liberal politicoeconomic ideas has led to a deemphasis on the third paradigm or, in some cases, its substitution by constructivism. But, contrary to Fukuyama, history has not quite ended. Neo-Marxist inter- pretations of international relations persist, and new and interesting ones continue to emerge. The latest entry, Boswell and Chase-Dunn's new book, is a case in point. As long-time and leading contributors to world systems theory, they employ their theoretical interpretation of modern his- tory (the last 500 years) to explain what went wrong with socialism and how the socialist strategy might still be salvaged in a future world-system (with a hyphen).

scholarly journals TATHMINI YA LUGHA YA KUFUNDISHIA KUANZIA SHULE ZA CHEKECHEA HADI DARASA LA TATU NCHINI KENYA

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Chacha ◽  
Judy Onyancha
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Nursery School ◽  
First Language ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Local Languages

The question of which language should be used as a medium of instruction from nursery school to class three in primary schools has been a topic of discussion in Kenya since the 1960’s. It has been proposed that the language of instruction at those levels of education be the language of the catchment area or Kiswahili in cosmopolitan areas. Language learning theories backed by research indicate that the use of local languages (first language) as a medium of instruction in the formative years of the child makes them understand faster what is being taught. This is because language is no longer a barrier in the learning. Examples given of developed countries indicate that these countries have prospered because they used local languages in their education systems. This paper revisits this issue 51 years after the nation of Kenya got its independence and having undergone several socio-political changes. The paper analyzes the current situation in Kenya today and gives recommendations on how best that policy can be implemented in the changed circumstances.

scholarly journals Towards robust evolutionary inference with integral projection models

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria João Janeiro ◽  
David W. Coltman ◽  
Marco Festa-Bianchet ◽  
Fanie Pelletier ◽  
Michael B. Morrissey
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Genetic Approach ◽  
Regression To The Mean ◽  
Integral Projection Models ◽  
Dependent Development ◽  
Integral Projection ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Evolutionary Inference ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Mean

AbstractIntegral projection models (IPMs) are extremely flexible tools for ecological and evolutionary inference. IPMs track the distribution of phenotype in populations through time, using functions describing phenotype-dependent development, inheritance, survival and fecundity. For evolutionary inference, two important features of any model are the ability to (i) characterize relationships among traits (including values of the same traits across ages) within individuals, and (ii) characterize similarity between individuals and their descendants. In IPM analyses, the former depends on regressions of observed trait values at each age on values at the previous age (development functions), and the latter on regressions of offspring values at birth on parent values as adults (inheritance functions). We show analytically that development functions, characterized this way, will typically underestimate covariances of trait values across ages, due to compounding of regression to the mean across projection steps. Similarly, we show that inheritance, characterized this way, is inconsistent with a modern understanding of inheritance, and underestimates the degree to which relatives are phenotypically similar. Additionally, we show that the use of a constant biometric inheritance function, particularly with a constant intercept, is incompatible with evolution. Consequently, current implementations of IPMs will predict little or no phenotypic evolution, purely as artifacts of their construction. We present alternative approaches to constructing development and inheritance functions, based on a quantitative genetic approach, and show analytically and through an empirical example on a population of bighorn sheep how they can potentially recover patterns that are critical to evolutionary inference.

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