2,746 research outputs found
The global 1989?: the year that changed the world
As we approach the twentieth anniversary of â1989 and all thatâ, it might be worth ducking for cover. Lest we forget, the year â1989â has become something of a clichĂ©, caught in a sense of its own triumphalism, considered by all and sundry (or at least by most) to be the ur-contemporary demarcation point in world historical time, a normative, analytical and empirical referent point par excellence
Rethinking benchmark dates in international relations
International Relations has an âorthodox setâ of benchmark dates by which much of its research and teaching is organized: 1500, 1648, 1919, 1945 and 1989. This article argues that International Relations scholars need to question the ways in which these orthodox dates serve as internal and external points of reference, think more critically about how benchmark dates are established, and generate a revised set of benchmark dates that better reflects macro-historical international dynamics. The first part of the article questions the appropriateness of the orthodox set of benchmark dates as ways of framing the disciplineâs self-understanding. The second and third sections look at what counts as a benchmark date, and why. We systematize benchmark dates drawn from mainstream International Relations theories (realism, liberalism, constructivism/English School and sociological approaches) and then aggregate their criteria. The fourth section of the article uses this exercise to construct a revised set of benchmark dates which can widen the disciplineâs theoretical and historical scope. We outline a way of ranking benchmark dates and suggest a means of assessing recent candidates for benchmark status. Overall, the article delivers two main benefits: first, an improved heuristic by which to think critically about foundational dates in the discipline; and, second, a revised set of benchmark dates which can help shift International Relationsâ centre of gravity away from dynamics of war and peace, and towards a broader range of macro-historical dynamics
The untimely historical sociologist
This article examines the historical sociology that informs Andrew Linklaterâs Violence and Civilization in the Western States-Systems. On the sociological side, it critically assesses Linklaterâs use of Elias and Wight, arguing that his âhigher level synthesisâ is internally incompatible. On the historical side, the article argues that the occlusion of the transnational interactions that, in great measure, drive historical development means that Linklaterâs analysis is inadequate for its stated purpose: to chart the development of civilising processes within the Western state-system
Revolutions and the international
Although contemporary theorists of revolution usually claim to be incorporating international dynamics in their analysis, âthe internationalâ remains a residual feature of revolutionary theory. For the most part, international processes are seen either as the facilitating context for revolutions or as the dependent outcome of revolutions. The result is an analytical bifurcation between international and domestic in which the former serves as the backdrop to the latterâs causal agency. This paper demonstrates the benefits of a fuller engagement between revolutionary theory and âthe internationalâ. It does so in three steps: first, the paper examines the ways in which contemporary revolutionary theory apprehends âthe internationalâ; second, it lays out the descriptive and analytical advantages of an âintersocietalâ approach; and third, it traces the ways in which international dynamics help to constitute revolutionary situations, trajectories, and outcomes. In this way, revolutions are understood as âintersocietalâ all the way down
LSE Research: Community support providing a boost to Zimbabwean children battling HIV/AIDS
LSEâs Professor Catherine Campbell and Dr Morten Skovdahl were part of a team of researchers* investigating the factors aiding childrenâs adherence to their HIV/AIDS treatment for the paper, Building adherence-competent communities: Factors promoting childrenâs adherence to anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS treatment in rural Zimbabwe
Within and beyond the 'fourth generation' of revolutionary theory
Recent years have seen renewed interest in the study of revolutions. Yet the burgeoning interest in revolutionary events has not been matched by a comparable interest in the development of revolutionary theory. For the most part, empirical studies of revolutions remain contained within the parameters established by the âfourth generationâ of revolutionary theory. This body of work sees revolutions as conjunctural amalgams of systemic crisis, structural opening, and collective action, which arise from the intersection of international, economic, political, and symbolic factors. Despite the promise of this approach, this article argues that fourth generation scholarship remains an unfulfilled agenda. The aim of this article is to work within â and beyond â fourth generation theory in order to establish the theoretical foundations that can underpin contemporary work on revolutions. It does so in three ways: first, by promoting a shift from an attributional to a processual ontology; second, by advocating a relational rather than substantialist account of social action; and third, by fostering an approach that sees revolutions as inter-societal âall the way downâ
The Global 1989
Last night at IDEAS, a roundtable of leading academics debated a new edited volume: The Global 1989. Here one of the editors, George Lawson, explores the ways in which the central dynamics of contemporary world politics have been shaped, for better or worse, by the social forces unleashed in Central and Eastern Europe some twenty years ago
The global 1989?
As we approach the twentieth anniversary of â1989 and all thatâ, it might be worth ducking for cover. Lest we forget, the year â1989â has become something of a clichĂ©, caught in a sense of its own triumphalism, considered by all and sundry (or at least by most) to be the ur-contemporary demarcation point in world historical time, a normative, analytical and empirical referent point par excellence
Happy anniversary? States and social revolutions revisited: States and social revolutions revisited
Forty years after its publication, Theda Skocpol's States and social revolutions remains the pre-eminent book in the study of revolutions. But how should the book be assessed from the vantage point of contemporary world politics? This essay reviews Skocpol's contribution to three main issue-areas: theory, structural approaches and the international. It argues that, rich as it has been, the research agenda initiated by States and social revolutions has run its course. It cannot respond effectively to the different contexts within which revolutions emerge and the diverse forms they take. Its bifurcation between structure and agency cannot capture the relational character of revolutionary action. And, despite its concern for the international components of revolutions, States and social revolutions cannot accommodate the ways in which revolutions are âintersocialâ all the way down. A new Skocpol is needed for a new age of revolutions
The social sources of Chinese power
This review essay critically engages Dingxin Zhao's The Confucian-Legalist State. While sympathetic to much of Zhao's book, the essay teases out the wider implications of his project. It identifies four shortcomings and two possible extensions of Zhao's argument, with particular attention on how his book contributes to debates in International Relations
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