scholarly journals FORUM: Stripping Away the Body: Prospects for Reimagining Race in IR

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T D Harper-Shipman ◽  
K Melchor Quick Hall ◽  
Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn ◽  
Mamyrah A Dougé-Prosper
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Temporal Relation ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Central Tenet ◽  
Material Conditions

Abstract It is impossible to talk about race in international relations (IR) without acknowledging the early and groundbreaking intervention of a couple of special issues, followed by conversation-changing book anthologies. Despite these contributions, mainstream IR continues to marginalize the valuable work of non-white institutions and people, while minimizing the role of race and racism in the discipline. In the wake of a historic racial uprising in the United States (and globally) during the summer of 2020, IR scholars returned to critical discussions of race and racism in the contemporary moment. Although the current conversations on race in IR are crucial for directing the field toward a more generative path, there is still work to be done. Many of the existing formulations of race orient the concept around the somatic. The overreliance on the body as an indication of race can obscure how race as a set of dispossessing structures supported and reproduced through a variety of agents and mechanisms can be discerned through other means. Body-centric conceptualizations of race are also typically divorced from their origins at the root of capitalism, in favor of more US-centric renderings of race as identity. The contributors to this forum think through race as the concomitant othering and rank-ordering of groups that translates into material conditions. We illustrate how race as a material–spatial–temporal relation of power exposes the limits of race as merely phenotype or culture. Through our examination of race in this light, issues of gender effortlessly emerge alongside the study of race. As such, we demonstrate how a re-reading of IR with this formulation of race as its central tenet offers a more generative avenue for explorations of class, gender, security, and power, writ large.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Issue: Soft Power of Civil Society in International Relations

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-476
Author(s):  
TAKASHI INOGUCHI
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Makers

This special issue focuses on the role of civil society in international relations. It highlights the dynamics and impacts of public opinion on international relations (Zaller, 1992). Until recently, it was usual to consider public opinion in terms of its influence on policy makers and in terms of moulding public opinion in the broad frame of the policy makers in one's country. Given that public opinion in the United States was assessed and judged so frequently and diffused so globally, it was natural to frame questions guided by those concepts which pertained to the global and domestic context of the United States.

The future of maternity wear: Generation Z's expectations of dressing for pregnancy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Anne Weigle ◽  
Laura McAndrews
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
Physical Changes ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate Generation Z's physical expectations of being pregnant and their outlook for maternity wear shopping.Design/methodology/approachFemales in this cohort (n = 207) participated in an online survey that included questions about perceptions of pregnancy, physical self-concept and forecasted shopping behaviors.FindingsResults indicated that this group is concerned with physical changes of pregnancy and expect to treat each area of the body in a different way. Women's expected physical concerns of pregnancy predict how much they anticipate accentuating their pregnant body. Gen Z anticipates wearing loose maternity garments and they envision a thoughtful, in-store shopping experience for styles that are equally fashionable and comfortable, such as dresses.Research limitations/implicationsThis study should be extended to future generational cohorts like Generation Alpha, along with Gen Z outside of the United States and women in the United States who are non-white. Further studies should take a longitudinal approach to gauge changes in this cohort's expectations as they progress through pregnancy.Practical implicationsThis paper provides maternity wear retail brands and designers a foundation for product development and marketing geared toward this large cohort.Originality/valueThe study is the first to inquire about Gen Z's outlook on pregnancy, specifically their envisioned changes to each body area and the role of maternity garments to fulfill needs and concerns.

scholarly journals Clothing Fit Issues for Trans People

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Andrew Reilly ◽  
Jory Catalpa ◽  
Jenifer McGuire
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Consumer Group ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Clothing Fit ◽  
Line Analysis

As many as nine million people identify as a transperson in the United States, yet mass clothing designing and manufacturing do not meet the needs of this consumer group. This research examines the role of fit in ready-to-wear (RTW) clothing using qualitative research methods. 90 transpeople from the United States, Canada, and Ireland participated in interviews and data from interviews were analyzed using line-by-line analysis, resulting in three themes. Theme 1 explored current fit problems with RTW clothing, Theme 2 explored the desire to use clothing to hide parts of the body that did not align with one’s gender identity, and Theme 3 explored the desire to use clothing to highlight parts of the body that did align with one’s gender identity. Findings from this research confirm the assumption that current RTW clothing does not meet the needs of the transperson population and offers areas where designers and manufactures can reassess their methods relative to this consumer group.

scholarly journals EUROPEAN UNION’S QUEST FOR STRATEGIC AUTONOMY AND BIDEN’S FOREIGN POLICY

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/2021) ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
Milan Igrutinovic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Slow Recovery ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
The Eu

Over the last decade the EU has faced challenges on numerous fronts: economic crisis and slow recovery, refugee crisis, terrorism, Brexit, lack of effectiveness of its foreign and security policy. In recent years, the EU has put new effort to define its purpose and standing in international relations, and it seeks to become strategically autonomous actor. That means an actor with the ability to set priorities and make decisions. As the role of the United States is still pre-eminent in the security of Europe, the EU-US relations have a special bearing on that EU’s ambition. In this paper we provide an overview of the relations between these two actors with the focus on the first year of Joseph Biden presidency, and we argue that through a complex interaction the EU will seek to define its policies independently of the United States, wishing to expand its space for maneuver and action.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
International Engagement

This chapter reviews the argument and evidence presented in the body of book, which provides substantial support for the proposed theories on the sources and effectiveness of US nonproliferation policy. It identifies areas for future research, such as the nonproliferation policies of other countries, the mechanisms through which nuclear domino effects occur, and the role of preventive strikes in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. It also discusses the implications of the book’s finding for theory and policy, for example the need for the United States to maintain a credible sanctions policy, continue its international engagement, and work to develop more reliable policies for instituting multilateral sanctions.

The Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Bowman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Involvement ◽  
The Press ◽  
Anglo American

This book examines the role of the elite Pilgrims Society in Anglo-American relations during the first half of the twentieth century. The Pilgrims Society was a dining club founded in London and New York in 1902 and 1903 which sought to improve relations between Britain and the United States. The Society provided an elite network that brought together influential politicians, diplomats, journalists, and businessmen during key moments in Anglo-American diplomacy. This book argues that the Pilgrims acted in cooperation with officialdom in both countries to promote its essentially elitist conception of Anglo-American friendship. The book presents a series of case studies that focus on the proceedings and wider diplomatic significance of lavish banquets held across the period at iconic London and New York hotels. In so doing, the book is the first-ever scholarly examination of the Pilgrims Society and establishes the role of unofficial public diplomacy activities and associational culture in official Anglo-American relations in an earlier period than has been recognised in the existing historiography. The book concludes that the Pilgrims Society is best regarded as a semi-official actor in international relations which – through its engagement with the press and by means of facilitating contact between policy-making elites – provided a milieu that supported ideas of Anglo-American friendship and legitimised greater state involvement in public diplomacy.

scholarly journals ‘Threatening’ China and US security: the international politics of identity

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
OLIVER TURNER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Material Forces ◽  
Politics Of Identity ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
China Threat

AbstractChina's increasing capabilities are a central focus of modern day US security concerns. The International Relations literature is a key forum for analyses of the so-called ‘China threat’ and yet it remains relatively quiet on the role of ideas in the construction and perpetuation of the dangers that country is understood to present. This article reveals that throughout history ‘threats’ from China towards the United States, rather than objectively verifiable phenomena, have always been social constructions of American design and thus more than calculations of material forces. Specifically, it argues that powerful and pervasive American representations of China have been repeatedly and purposefully responsible for creating a threatening identity. It also demonstrates that these representations have enabled and justified US China policies which themselves have reaffirmed the identities of both China and the United States, protecting the latter when seemingly threatened by the former. Three case studies from across the full duration of Sino-American relations expose the centrality of ideas to historical and contemporary understandings of China ‘threats’, and to the American foreign policies formulated in response.

Gender Identity, the Sexed Body, and the Medical Making of Transgender

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1005-1033
Author(s):  
Tara Gonsalves
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
External Genitalia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
New Formulation ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, I argue that the medical conceptualization of gender identity in the United States has entered a “new regime of truth.” Drawing from a mixed-methods analysis of medical journals, I illuminate a shift in the locus of gender identity from external genitalia and pathologization of families to genes and brain structure and individualized self-conception. The sexed body itself has also undergone a transformation: Sex no longer resides solely in genitalia but has traveled to more visible parts of the body, implicating racialized aesthetic ideals in its new formulation. The re-imagining of gender identity as genetically and neurologically inscribed and the expanding locus of sex correspond to an inversion of the relationship between gender identity and the sexed body as well as shifts in medical jurisdiction. Whereas psychiatrists in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s understood gender as stemming from genital sex, the less popular idea that gender identity precedes the sexed body has gained traction in recent decades. If gender identity once derived from the sexed body, the sexed body must now be brought into alignment with gender identity. The increasing legitimacy of self-defined gender identity, the expanding definition of racialized sex, and the inversion of the sex–gender identity relationship elevates the role of surgeons in producing racialized and sexed bodies.

Constraining Coercion? Legitimacy and Its Role in U.S. Trade Policy, 1975–2000

2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof J. Pelc
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unilateral Action ◽  
Trade Measures

AbstractThe role of legitimacy in international relations is a topic of much debate, yet there is little understanding of the mechanism behind it. Here I address this discrepancy by asking: are state threats perceived as (il)legitimate more or less likely to be successful? By operationalizing illegitimacy as unilateral action in the presence of a multilateral option, I consider the variation in the success of U.S. trade measures from 1975 to 2000. As I show, the (il)legitimacy of threats modifies the nature of the signal sent by concessions to those threats, and this effect can be measured and predicted. I find that, controlling for material pressure, perceived illegitimacy of U.S. trade threats decreases the likelihood of a target conceding by over 34 percent. Moreover, it pays to resist: targets that resist illegitimate unilateral measures from the United States are 25 percent less likely to encounter similar unilateral measures over the following five years.

scholarly journals Pakistan’s Politics of Alliances and the Role of Pakistani Military in Politics (1954-1958): Uneven and Combined Development

2017 ◽  
Vol II (I) ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Ali Jibran ◽  
Syed Ali Shah ◽  
Muhammad Bilal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
Uneven And Combined Development ◽  
The Impact

The states have to adjust to the pressure exerted by the 'international'; yet impact of the 'international' on national politics has been ignored by mainstream international relations theories. This study uses a framework of "Uneven and Combined Development" to investigate the impact of Pakistan's inclusion in the United States led defense pacts on Pakistan military's role in domestic politics from 1954 to 1958. The central finding of this research is that the United States preferred Pakistan military over political leadership in Pakistan to checkmate communism in Asia as well as to stop communist political parties gaining power in Pakistan. By participating in these international pacts, the role of Pakistan military expanded in politics which culminated in the first martial law (1958).

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