The Poverty of Critical Theory in International Relations (Palgrave Studies in International Relations)

This book addresses the 'crisis of critique' of Frankfurt School Critical Theory in International Relations and puts forward a proposal for how it can be overcome. It starts from the premise that the present conjuncture, marked by capitalist crisis and a fracturing international order, urgently calls for critical perspectives capable of clarifying the state of global affairs and the emancipatory struggles within it. Critical Theory in International Relations should be well placed to provide answers to this demand, yet it finds itself today in a state of decline. Its prevailing form - that of a universalist cosmopolitan project - reflects a narrow Eurocentric perspective and the concerns of a time now past, while the Frankfurt School tradition as a whole struggles to develop new modes of analysis and new political imaginaries that are appropriate to the current historical situation. The book diagnoses this situation of intellectual and political crisis and seeks to trace a way out. It does so by providing a comprehensive account of the development of Critical Theory in International Relations and the ways in which it has applied Frankfurt School thought to the study of international politics. It then makes a provocative case as to the exhaustion of the cosmopolitan and Habermasian paradigm of critique that has guided Frankfurt School research on international politics for the past thirty years. Finally, it puts forward a proposal for the revitalisation of Critical Theory in IR through a renewed emphasis on the critique of political economy and sketches a research agenda which can make the tradition relevant again to contemporary political questions. Davide Schmid is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His research sits at the intersection of Critical Theory and International Political Economy Acknowledgements Contents About the Author 1 Introduction Critical Theory and the International Argument Book Structure References 2 The Crisis of Critique Defining Frankfurt School Critical Theory A General Definition of Frankfurt School Critical Theory Frankfurt School Theory in International Relations Cosmopolitan Democracy Critical International Relations Theory Standstill The Rise and Fall of Cosmopolitan Democracy The Slow Decline of Critical IR Theory The Crisis of Critique of Frankfurt School Theory Conclusion References 3 Two Histories of the Frankfurt School A Conventional History of the Frankfurt School Three Phases of Frankfurt School Thought Critique An Alternative History of the Frankfurt School The Early Frankfurt School Theory of Late Capitalism The Political Economic Dimension of Early Frankfurt School Theory The Impasse of Early Frankfurt School Theory The Habermasian Turn Reconsidered Conclusion References 4 The Habermasian Paradigm The Social-Theoretical Foundations of Habermasian Critical Theory The Theory of System and Lifeworld Habermas’s Theory of Capitalism The Antinomies of Habermasian Theory Problems of Analysis Problems of Critique Conclusion References 5 Habermas and Cosmopolitan Democracy Habermas and the Postnational Constellation The Functionalist Analysis of Globalisation The Hermeneutics of International Norms The Possibility of Cosmopolitanism The European Union The Pitfalls of Habermas’s Cosmopolitanism Explanatory Failings The Limits of Cosmopolitan Utopianism Conclusion References 6 Linklater and Critical International Relations Theory Linklater’s Theory of International Politics Linklater’s Early Works: From International Political Theory to Critical IR Theory Linklater’s Later Works: From the Study of Harm to Process Sociology The Failings of Linklater’s Critical Theory of IR Explanatory-Diagnostic Failings Anticipatory-Utopian Limits Conclusion References 7 The Way Ahead Introduction A New Strategy of Critique Ontology Methodology Philosophy Politics A New Research Agenda for Critical Theory The Economy Social Reproduction Ecology The Political The International Critique of Ideology Conclusion References 8 Conclusion References Index