The Politics of Aspiration

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-769
Author(s):  
Martha Finnemore ◽  
Michelle Jurkovich
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Essential Work ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The World ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Core Features

Abstract Aspiration is an essential component of politics. It articulates goals, affirms identities and values, and structures action at all levels of social life. Yet political scientists have spent little time theorizing aspiration—what it is, how it relates to other concepts, and the kinds of effects it creates. In this article, we develop the concept theoretically and argue that aspiration creates a distinct “aspirational politics” that differs from our international relations models of both norm-driven social activism and interest-driven rational choice. We identify three core features of aspiration that undergird its theoretical utility: lofty goals, change over time, and transformation through imagination. In the hands of skilled political actors, aspiration does essential work in both facilitating agreement and mobilizing social action that create change in the world. However, aspiration also has a dark side and can be manipulated to dodge accountability, postpone action, and serve private, rather than public, goals.

Teaching International Political Sociology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Pouliot
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Political Sociology ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Primary Methods ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The World ◽  
Introductory Classes

Teaching international political sociology (IPS) is intellectually rewarding yet pedagogically challenging. In the conventional International Relations (IR) curriculum, IPS students have to set aside many of the premises, notions, and models they learned in introductory classes, such as assumptions of instrumental rationality and canonical standards of positivist methodology. Once problematized, these traditional starting points in IR are replaced with a number of new dispositions, some of which are counterintuitive, that allow students to take a fresh look at world politics. In the process, IPS opens many more questions than it provides clear-cut answers, making the approach look very destabilizing for students. The objective of teaching IPS is to sow the seeds of three key dispositions inside students’ minds. First, students must appreciate the fact that social life consists primarily of relations that make the whole bigger than the parts. Second, they must be aware that social action is infused with meanings upon which both cooperative and conflictual relations hinge. Third, they have to develop a degree of reflexivity in order to realize that social science is a social practice just like others, where agents enter in various relations and struggle over the meanings of the world. There are four primary methods of teaching IPS, each with its own merits and limits: induction, ontology, historiography, and classics.

Four Conceptions of Authority in International Relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Jorg Kustermans ◽  
Rikkert Horemans
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
International Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
Authority Relations ◽  
The Stability

Abstract There is increasing agreement that states and other political actors on the world stage sometimes achieve international authority. However, there is less agreement about the nature and functioning of international authority relations. What determines whether an actor will be recognized as an authoritative actor? And what are the effects thereof? In this essay, we identify four distinct conceptions of authority in the study of international relations: authority as contract, authority as domination, authority as impression, and authority as consecration. Consideration of the typology leads to two important insights. First, the phenomenon of authority has an essentially experiential dimension. Subordinate actors’ emotional experience of authority determines their response to authority and thus also has a fundamental impact on the stability of authority. Second, the emergence of forms of international authority does not entail, at least not necessarily, the weakening of the sovereignty of states, but can equally be argued to strengthen it.

India and the World

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Malone ◽  
C. Raja Mohan ◽  
Srinath Raghavan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Asian Country ◽  
Extensive Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
External Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Indian Foreign Policy ◽  
Over Time

India has emerged as a leading voice in global affairs in the past two decades. Its fast-growing domestic market largely explains the ardour with which Delhi is courted by powers great and small. India is also becoming increasingly important to global geostrategic calculations, being the only Asian country with the heft to counterbalance China over time. Nevertheless, India’s foreign policy has been relatively neglected in the existing literature. ThisHandbook, edited by three widely recognized students of the topic, provides an extensive survey of India’s external relations. The authors include leading Indian scholars and commentators of the field and several outstanding foreign scholars and practitioners. They address factors in Indian foreign policy flowing from both history and geography and also discuss key relationships, issues, and multilateral forums through which the country’s international relations are refracted.

Challenges to Traditional International Relations Theory Posed by Environmental Change

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Dyer
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Practical Challenge ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Over Time

Changes in the environment can impact international relations theory, despite enjoying only a limited amount of attention from scholars of the discipline. The sorts of influence that may be identified include ontology, epistemology, concepts, and methods, all of these being related to varying perspectives on international relations. It is likely that the most profound implications arise at the ontological level, since this establishes assumptions about, for example, whether the world we wish to understand is both political and ecological. However, more recently the recognition of the practical challenge presented by the environment has become widespread, though it has not yet translated into a significant impact on the discipline of international relations, even when theoretical implications are noted. It is now almost obligatory to include the environment in any list of modern international relations concerns, as over time it has become necessary to include peace, underdevelopment, gender, or race, as they quite rightly became recognized as significant aspects of the field. Moreover, the environment, as a relatively novel subject matter, has naturally brought some critique and innovation to the field. However, studies of the environment are also subject to such descriptors as “mainstream” and “radical” in debates about how best to tackle the subject. As is often the case, the debates are sharpest among those with the greatest interest in the subject.

scholarly journals From the Sustainable Development to the Sustainable Community: the World Council of Churches’ Contribution to the Concept of Sustainability

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 293-304
Author(s):  
Piotr Kopiec
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council

At the turn of 20th and 21st century political activities are being inspired by two main ideas: the concept of ‘civil society’ and ‘sustainable development’. The latter has recently become a background of the United Nations strategy to support international cooperation regarding social and ecological problems, in particular to eradicate poverty. The UN’s ac- tivity is reviewed by the World Council of Churches, the biggest ecumenical organization. The WCC, when declaring its support to all initiatives striving to eradicate poverty and to foster peaceful political relations, suggests its own concept of ‘sustanaible community’ and the concept of ‘economy of life’. In this sense the ecumenical movement distinguishes itself from activities of secular political actors and imposes on Christians a task to promote new ideas and models of social life, inspired by the biblical teachings. This article defines the notion of sustainable development and discusses the main stages of its unfolding. Furthermore, the paper highlights the World Council of Churches’ criticism of the concept of sustainable development and scrutinizes a contribution of the WCC to the global debate on new political and social philosophy

scholarly journals WALLERSTEIN, ARRIGHI E AMIN: O IMPERIALISMO NO CAPITALISMO FORDISTA

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Felipe Brandão Osorio
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World Production ◽  
World War ◽  
The World ◽  
Production Relations ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Second World ◽  
Over Time

Imperialism takes on a new guise after the Second World War. In a panorama of expanding production relations, capitalism becomes, in fact, a mode of world production, based on Fordism. In this dynamic, new elements are incorporated into the analysis of international relations, such as the periphery, unequal exchanges, the transfer of value, and the world system, which end up not only eclipsing imperialism but also giving it other outlines. In this tone, it is necessary to investigate three influential authors, such as Wallerstein, Arrighi, and Amin, demonstrating their place and their limits in the central debate of international relations. Over time, the three, due to the vigor of their ideas and political engagement, became essential authors for criticizing the moment of capitalism in which we are inserted, even if it is to refute them. Studying it means unraveling yet another important knot in the task of investigating imperialism, an essential concept for understanding reality.

scholarly journals Narrating family histories: Negotiating identity and belonging through tropes of nostalgia and authenticity

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Ontological Security ◽  
Personal Stories ◽  
Family Histories ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Resemblances ◽  
The World ◽  
Over Time

Studying change is at the heart of any investigation into social life, whilst continuity is seen as central to a stable identity over time. Change is an unsettling, but inevitable, part of everyday life; continuity speaks of repetition over time, unity and the comfort of belonging. This article examines how themes of nostalgia and authenticity are evoked in telling family histories in order to negotiate change and create a continuous story of belonging. Three family histories demonstrate how material objects, places and claims of family resemblances are used to create both authentic identities and authentic selves belonging to the wider community. Where there is a break in the family story and the ‘world of restorable reach’ is no longer available nostalgia creeps in to replace personal stories with communal ones. Through using both nostalgia, to inform a sense of loss and sometimes a shared past, and authenticity, to create a sense of continuity within an overall arc of change, this article shows how family histories can work to maintain identities over time, retaining a sense of ontological security and belonging in place.

The Dark Side of Cooperation: International Organizations and Member Corruption

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1108-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie M Hafner-Burton ◽  
Christina J Schneider
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Political Corruption ◽  
Cheap Talk ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
The World ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Political corruption is rampant in—and destructive to—many parts of the world. A growing number of international organizations (IOs) claim to address the problem by encouraging good governance norms and rules, such as anti-corruption standards and practices. Whether membership in IOs dampens corruption, however, is unclear. Our central argument is that the characteristics of IO membership determine both whether corruption is tolerated and the extent to which formal anti-corruption rules effectively combat the problem. First, groups of corrupt states are reticent to enforce good governance norms or rules against other IO members, rendering punishment for corruption incredible. Second, leaders may witness the value of corruption to their IO peers and learn to act the same way. Using a variety of data sources and estimation strategies, including new data on IO anti-corruption mandates, we demonstrate that: (1) countries that participate in member-corrupted IOs are significantly more likely to engage in corruption themselves—and experience an increase in corruption over time—than are countries that participate in less corrupt IOs; and (2) this tolerance for corruption occurs even within IOs that have adopted formal anti-corruption mandates, rendering good governance rules largely cheap talk among organizations governed by corrupt principles.

First Steps Towards Information Architecture

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hal Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Information Architecture ◽  
Essential Work ◽  
The World ◽  
A Site ◽  
Over Time

In the essential work, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville (ISBN 1-56592-282-4), the authors state that the primary job of the information architect is to:clarify the mission and vision for the site, balancing the needs of its sponsoring organisation and the needs of its audiencesdetermine what content and functionality the site will containspecify how users will find information in the site by defining its organisation, navigation, labelling, and searching systemsmap out how the site will accommodate change and growth over time.These points rather succinctly describe what an information architect sets out to accomplish for any given site and/or situation. But given these points what should someone ‘do’ to implement improved information architecture (IA) for a site? Where do you start?

scholarly journals Covid-19 in Italy : Impact of Lockdown in Italy on Socio-Economic Situation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-227
Author(s):  
Yogie Nugraha
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Academic Journals ◽  
The World ◽  
Over Time

The COVID-19 outbreak in Italy ranks third most in the world with very continued growth over time. The purpose of this article is to discuss the case of COVID-19 in Italy and its impact on socioeconomic life as well as international relations between Italy and other countries. This article uses library reviews to perform analysis related to the topic of this article using sources such as academic journals, research reports, news articles and so on.

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