Part 9: Non-Western International Relation Theories §

(F) Day of the week: Monday Class: IS310 Created Time: June 21, 2021 5:10 PM Database: Class Notes Database Date: June 21, 2021 Days Till Date: Passed Last Edited Time: February 6, 2022 4:40 PM Provided Materials: Journal_1_-Where_are_no_non-western_IRTs.pdf, Journal_2-In_search_of_IRTs_beyond_the_west.pdf, Journal_3-_Distinctive_trajectories_of_IRTs_in_Asia.pdf Type: Reading Notes

• Definitions
  • IRT: International Relations Theory
  • Gramscian Hegemonies
  • Ethnocentrism

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• Almost all substantial IRTs are from and of the West
• Why are there no non-western IRTs?
  • Western are satisfied with their political condition and ready to study the ‘good life’ in relations among state,
  • while the East is still struggling for survival (author doesn’t agree with this argument)
  • What is considered the current ’good life’?
    • Democratic peace
    • Interdependence & Integration
    • Institutionalized orderliness
    • Normal relations and calculable results
• Author’s Argument of why there’s no non-western IRTs:
  • Gramscian Hegemonies
  • Ethnocentrism and the politics of exclusion
• Robert Cox’s argument “Theory is always for someone and for some purpose”
  • What the world looks like
    • Realism
    • English school pluralist
  • What the world should look like
    • Liberalism
    • Marxism
    • Critical theory
    • English school solidarists

What is IRTs? §

• Scope of generalizability
  • Universal: theory apply to everything
  • Exceptionalist: theory apply to some parts, but not all
• Area Studies: sub-systematic theorizing:
  • Area of East Asia is still sino-centric with the ‘Chinese World Order’ where states dress up in Westphalian (Democratic) while acting with Confucianism
  • Because it believes in Exceptionalism, theories shouldn’t be made at all
• Its a contribution to IRTs when it is
  • that it be substantially acknowledged by others in the IR academic community as being theory
  • that it be self-identified by its creators as being IRT even if this is not widely acknowledged within the mainstream academic IR community
  • that regardless of what acknowledgment it receives, its construction identifies it as a systematic attempt to abstract or generalize about the subject matter of IR.

Reasons for Dominant West Theories §

• West came into IR studies first about its own political structures
• West grew in power and spread it to the rest of the world
• Theorists from late industrializes must compete with saturated academic field

1. Western IRTs are indisputably correct §

• This case would mean the West studied IRTs so correctly that its as factual as science and physics.
• Criticisms
  • Westphalia Straight-Jacket: Western IRTs is built exclusively on Western culture and history perspective, not other countries perspectives
  • Narrow perspectives: over-emphasis on anarchy instead of a wider POV of how International system could have been constructed
  • Theories keep focusing more and more narrow till they only apply to one part of the world and nothing else

2. Western IRTs have acquired an undeniable status due to power of the West §

• This case says the West along with its IRTs have grown to the status of Gramscian Hegemony where everyone in the world is influenced by the west and unconciously accept their theories even if its false
• After imperialism, to gain independence local leaders must keep the west system
  • To not be colonized again they accepted
    • sovereignty
    • territoriality
    • nationalism
• First world (West) is stopping ‘non-interference’ but the third world (Asia) is strengthening ‘non-interference’
• If West IRTs have anything that isn’t universal, different perspectives from Asia/others of IR are definitely needed

3. Non-western IRTs exists, but are hidden §

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• Why should there be non-western IRTs?
  • to liberate non-west from the western ideas and idealism
• How is Asia firsts in the world?
  • Asia made many firsts such as scientific discovery (gun power…)
  • Easternization came before Westernization
    • Embrace modernity or create their own model
• Four catagories of what?? comparing west and non-western IRTs?
  • Modernity: as non-west were exposed to western influence through colonization: we focus on the west’s representative of power and adopted their systems
  • Syncrotism
  • Critical Traditionalism
  • Religious Fundamentalism
• non-western IRTs usually come from 4 different things
  • Historical
  • Culture
  • Religion
• Chinese theories & Japanese theories
• Criticism of non-western IRTs
  • Not represented properly in educations and studies
  • trying to be unique →Too centralized or scoped, not generalizable