A response : forum on Snapshots from Home

The commentary reflects on the contributions to the forum in light of the overall objectives of Snapshots from Home: Mind, Action and Strategy in an Uncertain World.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Contraria sunt complementa : global entanglement and the constitution of difference

The physicist Niels Bohr identified a parallel between quantum physics and Daoism and Buddhism. The parallel maps onto two debates regarding Global IR, on the one hand, and the implications of quantum physics for the social sciences, on the other, highlighting the potential for a conversation between them. The quantum arguments unsettle the hierarchy between ‘positivists’ and ‘reflectivists,’ raising a question of which science, while Daoism and Buddhism, as traditions that have for millennia explored questions of language, agency and ethics, provide a point of departure for thinking about the human and social implications of more recent discoveries in quantum physics. Starting with Bohr’s concept of complementarity, the argument moves to an analysis of Karen Barad and Alexander Wendt’s work on quantum physics and the social sciences, and then explores Bohr’s parallel to Daoism and Buddhism. The structuring of the article around a series of oppositions, including particle/wave, ontology/epistemology, materiality/consciousness, egoism/relationality, East/West, highlights the relationship between global entanglement and the constitution of difference with it.PostprintPeer reviewe

The safety paradox : unknown knowns, ungrieved grief and collective agreements not to know

The article is part of a larger project, Mapping the Empire: The Contemporary Legacy of Historical Trauma and Forced Displacement, which has been funded by the U.S. Human Family Unity Foundation through a donation to the University of St. Andrews.The discussion between the developing and developed world in Egypt during COP27 brought the history of colonialism and its impact on climate change to the table, as did the earlier floods in Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of unacknowledged grief, shame and guilt, accruing over centuries, on our ability to move forward to a more sustainable future. At stake is not only a question of ‘loss and damage’ for those who have suffered disproportionately in the past and present, but also the need to acknowledge how past practice has set the stage for inequality and climate change in the global future. In this article we develop concepts of unknown knowns and ungrieved grief, and explore the mechanisms by which populations collectively turn away from uncomfortable or shameful truths. The failure to look at the past has transgenerational consequences, as present distractions contribute to an inability to ‘see’ the consequences of past and present action for future generations. The final section explores the safety paradox that arises from the fragmented safety of turning to conflict and war, and a holistic safety that requires grieving for the global whole.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Consciousness at the interface : Wendt, Eastern wisdom and the ethics of intra-action

Drawing on the family resemblance between quantum physics and Eastern wisdom identified by Niels Bohr, this article brings insights from Buddhism and Daoism to the task of enhancing our understanding of the significance of Alexander Wendt’s argument for a quantum-based social science. Five areas of overlap between his argument and Eastern wisdom are explored: vitalism and the idea that life goes “all the way down”; the dependence of consciousness on both subjectivity and relationality; the ethical significance of language; the notion of “changing the past”; and the importance of leaders. The family resemblances between Wendt’s perspective and those available in Daoism and Buddhism are remarkable.PostprintNon peer reviewe

Whereof we can speak, thereof we must not be silent : trauma, political solipsism and war

In cases such as World War I grief or trauma were nearly universal in the European context and a direct consequence of a political experience of war. This article asks whether widespread social suffering may have a social and political expression that is larger than the sum of traumatised or bereaved individuals. Section 1 explores Martha Nussbaum's theory of emotion, particularly as it relates to grief and compassion and uses this to build two contrasting typologies of grief and trauma. Central to this contrast is the idea that grief, as an emotion, is embedded in a community, while trauma and emotional numbing correspond with a breakdown of community and an isolation, which may give rise to solipsism, The latter would appear to make any notion of social trauma a contradiction in terms. Section 2 draws on the philosopher Wittgenstein's critique in the Philosophical Investigations of his early work in the Tractatus, to argue that even the solipsist exists in a particular kind of social world. This provides a foundation for arguing, in Section 3, that social trauma can find expression in a political solipsism, which has dangerous consequences. Section 4 theorises the relationship between trauma, identity and agency at the international level.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe