On ‘The Problem with Brenner’: The Paradox of Agency and the Heresy of Reification

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-152
Author(s):  
Michael Andrew Žmolek
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Structure Debate ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Knafo and Teschke’s surprisingly polemical critique of Brenner’s work is derived from earlier work which applies the same critique arising out of the agency/structure debate in International Relations theory. Casting Brenner’s work as increasingly structuralist over time and therefore increasingly prone to reify social relations, thereby suppressing or downplaying the role of agency, Knafo and Teschke ask their readers to take such claims at face value, offering no close textual reading of Brenner’s work. Focusing almost entirely on method rather than on substance and by framing their critique within the confines of the unending debate over structure and agency, Knafo and Teschke’s claim that Brenner’s work consistently reifies social relations – presuming but not demonstrating that this is his intent – obscures and fails to engage substantively with his powerful historical contributions, or to offer alternative definitions or historical theories.

scholarly journals Acordos de Sokovia e os Limites do Poder: Capitão América e Reflexões Sobre o Papel da Superpotência no Sistema Internacional

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-456
Author(s):  
Liliane Klein Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Civil War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
American People ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Captain America ◽  
The Cold War

Ao observar o sistema unipolar que emergiu do final da Guerra Fria, é marcante o sentimento de insegurança geopolítica gerada pela existência de apenas uma superpotência global e as dúvidas da atuação do Estado soberano nessa conjuntura. Nesse paradigma, Capitão América: Guerra Civil é lançado com uma simbologia contestadora do papel do hegemon no sistema internacional. Com isso, inicialmente é exposto o enredo do filme, seguido das teorias liberal e realista das Relações Internacionais e da semiótica greimasiana. Com isso em vista, é feita a análise dos símbolos do longa-metragem e, por fim, se conclui que os autores do texto tinham como objetivo disseminar uma mensagem de união política entre os americanos.     Abstract: Observing the unipolar system emerging from the closure of the Cold War, is remarkable the sentiment of geopolitical insecurity generated by the existence of only one global superpower and the doubts about the role of the sovereign State in such system. In this paradigm, Captain America: Civil War is released with a contesting symbology about the role of the hegemon in the international system. Therefore, first it is exposed the movie plot, followed by the liberal and realist theories of international relations and the French semiotics. With this in mind, the symbols in the feature are analised and, in conclusion, it is stated that the authors wish to convey a message in bipartisan union amongst the American people. Keywords: International Relations Theory, Semiotics, Captain America.     Recebido em: setembro/2019. Aprovado em: maio/2020.

scholarly journals The Role of the UN Security Council in COVID-19 Crisis Management

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Svetlana Cebotari ◽  
Selena Stejaru
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Dynamic Evolution ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Currently, we experience a conditional reality imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, with both immediate and long-lasting repercussions on the international system and the behavior of each state. For this reason and because the new virus has a dynamic evolution in time and space, research of the impact of the new virus is needed not only from a biogenetic perspective but also in the context of other fields, including the international relations realm. The events we are witnessing at the present challenge to keep up with transformations taking place in the international arena, especially those in the field of virology. As epidemics over time, viruses that cause them to change and occur constantly remain only the fact that they will always influence not only interpersonal relations but impose conditions for new realities in the system of international relations. This article aims to highlight the main gaps in the work of the institution responsible for maintaining peace and security in the international arena, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Introduction

After Lavinia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Watkins
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
International System ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
English School ◽  
Power Struggles ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Public Theaters

This book examines the role of marriage in the formation, maintenance, and disintegration of a premodern European diplomatic society. The argument develops in dialogue with the so-called English school of international relations theory, with its emphasis on the contemporary international system as a society of states sharing certain values, norms, and common interests rather than as an anarchy driven solely by power struggles. In studying the place of marriage diplomacy in questions of monarchical and national sovereignty, the book draws on interdisciplinary methodologies that have long characterized academic studies of queenship and, more recently, European diplomatic culture. It begins with Virgil, whose epic tells the story of Aeneas's marriage to Lavinia—the paradigmatic interdynastic marriage. It also considers the inseparability of marriage diplomacy from literary production. Finally, it discusses the factors that precipitated the disintegration of marriage diplomacy, including new technologies of print and the large public theaters for promoting diplomatic literacy.

Choosing anarchy: institutional alternatives and the global order

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moonhawk Kim ◽  
Scott Wolford
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
International System ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Self Enforcement ◽  
Interaction Density

The international system may be anarchic, but anarchy is neither fixed nor inevitable. We analyze collective choices between anarchy, a system of inefficient self-enforcement, and external enforcement, where punishment is delegated to a third party at some upfront cost. In equilibrium, external enforcement (establishing governments) prevails when interaction density is high, the costs of integration are low, and violations are difficult to predict, but anarchy (drawing borders) prevails when at least one of these conditions fail. We explore the implications of this theory for the causal role of anarchy in international relations theory, the integration and disintegration of political units, and the limits and possibilities of cooperation through international institutions.

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.

The Influence of Dynamic Perspectives on Poverty Analysis and Anti-Poverty Policy in the UK

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETE ALCOCK
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Policy Intervention ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Academic Debate

This article provides an overview of the academic debates and recent research on the dynamic perspective on poverty and anti-poverty policy. Renewed theoretical interest in dynamic analysis is discussed in the context of the more general debate about the roles of structure and agency in social relations. This is followed by a brief outline of some of the new empirical datasets now available for longitudinal research, in particular in the UK. The implications of dynamic analysis for our understanding of poverty are summarised, followed by a discussion of the impact of this on anti-poverty policy, again drawing largely on the UK, and some specifically English, developments. The article concludes that dynamic analysis and the role of agency has had a significant impact on both academic debate and policy intervention on poverty, but that this should not be interpreted as leading to an abandonment of policies for structural reform aimed at redistributing resources to the poor.

scholarly journals Children’s trust and the development of prosocial behavior

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Malti ◽  
Margit Averdijk ◽  
Antonio Zuffianò ◽  
Denis Ribeaud ◽  
Lucy R. Betts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Latent Growth ◽  
Trust Beliefs ◽  
Curve Modeling ◽  
Teacher Reports ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Over Time

This study examined the role of children’s trust beliefs and trustworthiness in the development of prosocial behavior using data from four waves of a longitudinal study in a large, ethnically-diverse sample of children in Switzerland (mean age = 8.11 years at Time 1, N = 1,028). Prosocial behavior directed towards peers was measured at all assessment points by teacher reports. Children’s trust beliefs and their trustworthiness with peers were assessed and calculated by a social relations analysis at the first assessment point using children’s reports of the extent to which classmates kept promises. In addition, teacher reports of children’s trustworthiness were assessed at all four assessment points. Latent growth curve modeling yielded a decrease in prosocial behavior over time. Peer- and teacher-reported trustworthiness predicted higher initial levels of prosocial behavior, and peer-reported trustworthiness predicted less steep decreases in prosocial behavior over time. Autoregressive cross-lagged analysis also revealed bidirectional longitudinal associations between teacher-reported trustworthiness and prosocial behavior. We discuss the implications of the findings for research on the role of trust in the development of children’s prosocial behavior.

scholarly journals The Origins of European Security: the Factor of Neutrality in the early 1970s

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Alexey Sindeev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
European Security ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Over Time

The article continues to explore a topic of «Sources of European Security».The author analyzes the role of personalities, processes and factors that have influenced the modern European security system, sustainable and variable elements of the transformation of the European segment of international relations. On the basis of documents from the Swiss Federal Archives, this article highlightsthe position of Switzerland and, in some cases, Austria before the start of the substantive discussions of the agreed agenda at the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The 1970 Moscow Treaty between the USSR and the Federal Republic of Germany and the start of the CSCE process led to the Soviet Union abandoning its longstanding attempts to establish cooperation between the great powers in parallel with the UN structures.The Foreign Minister of the USSR Andrei Gromyko warned against this. Subsequently, the role of the small and medium-sized countries in the two ideological camps increased. The overall picture of interstate relations became more complicated. It is therefore no coincidence that the CSCE is treatedcontroversially in historiography. Considering that transformations are associated with continuous forms, positions, and mechanisms that have been tested over time, the author makes hypotheses and recommendations at the end of the article.

HEURISTIC POTENTIAL OF GENDER THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
VALERY MIKHAYLENKO ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Russian Science ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Femininity And Masculinity ◽  
Gender Theories ◽  
The Impact

Gender research in international relations is a relatively young branch of scientific knowledge. In Russian science, the largest number of studies is aimed at studying gender balance, gender behavior in the social environment, the changing status of women in modern society. Among the few Russian works dealing with the topic of gender in international relations are the publications of T.V. Zonova. At the same time, gender approaches open up new opportunities for studying the influence of social relations on international relations. They do not replace the role of the main actor - State in international relations, but endow them with new characteristics from the sciences that study the behavioral forms and norms of social subjects. The proposed article sets the following tasks: to identify the features of gender theoretical approaches; determine the subject fields of international relations, where gender approaches can manifest their heuristic potential; give specific examples of the effective use of gender theories in the study of international relations. The article contains a brief analysis of the history of the formation of gender theories; the role of gender on the agenda of international institutions and the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on it; femininity and masculinity in politics; gender approaches to the issues of war and peace, state violence, construction of regions.

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