Realism as Critical Theory: The International Thought of E. H. Carr

Abstract

This essay bridges the standard divide between traditional realist and critical IR theory by demonstrating their unity in the international thought of E. H. Carr. In recent times, numerous scholars have challenged Carr's mainstream disciplinary image as a traditional realist, seeking to dissociate him from realism and narrate him as a proto-critical theorist instead. However, this has implicitly reinforced the divide between the two perspectives and obscured their fusion in Carr's thought. In contrast, this essay does not deny Carr's realism, but rather reveals how it expressed a distinctly critical theoretical consciousness. Focusing primarily on his attacks on liberal statecraft and liberal historiography in, respectively, The Twenty Years' Crisis and What Is History? it demonstrates that his analyses manifested key critical theory elements, including anti-positivist epistemology, counter-hegemonic tendencies, Western Marxist ideology critique and sociology of knowledge, and a commitment to progressive human emancipation from self-imposed constraints.

From the Twenty Years’ Crisis to the climate crisis: Reconsidering Carr’s thoughts on nationalism and global reform

“…The last 25 years witnessed a renewal of interest in Carr (Babík, 2013;Cunliffe, 2020;Molloy, 2006). A significant strand in this literature emphasised the importance of the social function of nationalism in Carr's thinking (Gellner, 1992;Kenealy and Kostagiannis, 2013;Pettman, 1998).…”

A reassessment of E.H. Carr and the realist tradition: Britain, German–Soviet Relations and neoclassical realism

“…Cox's (2004) edited collection, which included contributions from specialists in IR, history and Sovietology, equally served as a reminder that Carr's thought was more extensive and indeed more interesting than the traditional view gave him credit for. And, more recently, work has sought to recover Carr's romantic biographical period (Nishimura, 2011), consider the ethical positions underlying his work (Molloy, 2013), reconsider Carr' s historical understanding of the state (Kostagiannis, 2013) and stress the influence of Frankfurt critical theory on The Twenty Years' Crisis and What is History (Babík, 2013). Gone, in other words, is the traditional depiction of Carr; in its place is a more plural understanding, which is best…”