Africa and the Theoretical Peace in IR

Abstract

This article responds to the debate on “The End of IR Theory?” that appeared in a recent volume of the European Journal of International Relations. It argues that the pronouncements about “theoretical peace” carry the subtext of “epistemic violence,” foreclosing the debate and the possibility of theoretic interventions emerging from the non‐West—in this case, Africa. Elucidating how IR theory (IRT) has remained a parochial enterprise by the deliberate silencing of Africa, the article then finds pathways by which Africa can contribute to IRT. Using the metaphor of storytelling, it lists eight different ways in which Africa can tell new stories in IR.

Captive minds: the function and agency of Eastern Europe in International Security Studies

“…5 A pluralist way to 'tell the story of IR' would thus entail broadening the range of storytellers and demonstrating the intricacies of the local 'plots', for example by reciting the presence of IR in EE, showing how it operates in the region, and the difference therein (cf. Thakur 2015). The research task would accordingly be to trace historically the development of non-hegemonic states in the international system and examine the constitution and operation of their international political subjectivity.…”

Repenser la politique disciplinaire des Relations internationales

“…Par exemple, Ashworth montre que les RI, d'abord interdisciplinaires, ont délaissé l'interdisciplinarité en raison de leur ancrage à la science politique aux États-Unis pour s'ouvrir à nouveau à une interdisciplinarité à la fin des années 1980 (Ashworth 2009 : 16). (Thakur 2015 ;Soreanu 2010 La perspective indisciplinée que nous préconisons ici puise dans l'approche de Bleiker de l'oubli actif, qui veut nécessairement ouvrir le dialogue et des espaces de pensée qui sont une sorte de « table rase de la conscience », pour « faire de la place à de nouvelles choses, de nouvelles pensées, de nouvelles possibilités » (Bleiker 1997 : 60). Dans cet esprit indiscipliné, les RI-comme discipline deviennent un espace de pensée, mais surtout un espace créatif.…”

Realist avenues to global International Relations

“…1 These scholars criticize realism’s claim that its knowledge applies universally: across time, culture, and geographical space. They argue that realism results from and reproduces a Western-centric mode of knowledge production (Buzan, 2016; Hobson, 2012: 188; Ling, 2014: 12; Schmidt, 2014: 468; Thakur, 2015; Tickner, 2013; Tickner and Smith, 2020). They maintain that realism fails to explain much of international relations, silences alternative perspectives and voices, and does not grasp origins of conflicts and the behavior of most members of the international system.…”