A radical perspective Based on Marxist theories of IR The international status quo can and must be changed without endangering the survival of humanity.

A radical perspective

Based on Marxist theories of IR

The international status quo can and must be changed without endangering the survival of humanity

A renewed interest in Marxism No longer has the baggage of

Marxism-Leninism and the legacy of Stalinist era to contend with

The analytical capacity of Marxism retains depth– even more so today where the ‘market’ rules the world

… in comparison to the realists? Marxist theories expose a deeper

truth: the familiar events of world politics all occur within structures which have an enormous influence on these events The structures of a global capitalist

system

… the focus is on ‘inequality’

The total wealth of the world’s 358 billionaires is equal to the combined incomes of the poorest 45% of the world’s population (p.203, Baylis & Smith)

….those theorists in the Marxist vein… The social world must be analysed in its

totality ( history – philosophy – economics …) in order to get an understanding of the dynamics of world politics

The materialist conception of history – the processes of historical change are ultimately a reflection of the economic development of society

… this central dynamic is.. The tension between …

Means of production (technology) Relations of production (people)

which forms the economic base When there is change/development

this acts as a catalyst for the broader transformation of society as a whole

…class… A key role in Marxist analysis

`society is systematically prone to class conflict’

Marx is committed to ‘change’, not just writing and thinking about it!

World-systems theory Basis is Lenin’s contribution 1917,

Imperialism… This forms the basis of dependency

theory, developed in 50s in South America Core v periphery and so workers in the

‘core’ would be placated by the exploitation of their counterparts in the periphery

World-system theory ‘Wallerstein Two types of world-system In both, there is a transfer of resources

from the periphery to the core World-empires: here a centralized political

system uses its power to redistribute resources from peripheral areas to the central core area

World-economies: here there is no single centre of political authority, but multiple competing centres of power; resources are distributed through the medium of the market

The modern world system: ‘capitalism’ The capitalist system: this is the central

dynamic of the modern world system and this he defines as ‘a system of production for sale in a market

for profit and appropriation of this profit on the basis of individual or collective ownership (1976:66)

Within the context of this system, specific institutions are continually being created and recreated

The modern world system: characteristics

Spatial dimension - core, periphery, semi-periphery

Three zones linked together in an exploitative relationship where wealth is drained away from periphery to the centre

The modern world system: characteristics Temporal dimension:

Cyclical rhythm – boom or bust Secular trends – long-term growth or contraction of

the world economy Contradictions – constraints imposed by systemic

structures which make one set of behaviour optimal for actors in short run and a different set of behaviour optimal for the same actors in the middle run, for example the crisis of underconsumption (wages down, consumption down, …profits down

Crisis – the above combine in a way that the system cannot continue to reproduce itself and will be replaced by another

Gramsci The prison notebooks ( in prison

from 1926 – 1937) ? Why no revolution in Europe ‘Hegemony’ his key concept

Term to describe the most powerful state in the international system, or, the dominant state in a region

Gramsci His understanding of ‘power’ is a

mixture of coercion and consent The moral, political and religious

values of the dominant group are widely dispersed in society… ‘common sense’…and this takes place through the institutions of civil society.

Gramsci What underpins a given order is

the mutually reinforcing and reciprocal relationships between the socio-economic relations and political and cultural practices

Cox: modern theorist, a Gramscian

‘theory is always for some one and for some purpose’ (1981:128)

Facts and values cannot be separated So realist theory, it serves the interests of

those who prosper under the prevailing order

Critical theory – challenges the prevailing order by seeking out .. Assisting social processes that can potentially lead to emancipatory change

‘the hegemon’ Theoretical understanding of world

orders grasps both the sources of stability in a given system and also the dynamics of processes of transformation

‘hegemony’ in the international system very important as they shaped a word order to suit their interests using both coercive means but also generate broad consent for that order US, UK, : ruling ‘hegemonic’ idea, ‘free

trade’, now widely accepted, has attained ‘common sense’ status

‘the future’ Can the hegemon remain in

position? Or is capitalism inherently

unstable, riven by contradictions with economic crises acting as the catalyst for the emergence of counter-hegemonc movements

Critical theory Concerned with questions

international society and security; not focused on economic base of society It developed out of the work of The

Frankfurt School, … their legacy being carried on by Jurgen Habermas, ‘the most influential of all contemporary social theorists’

‘emancipation’ See this in terms of ‘reconciliation

with nature’… Habermas: Centrality of

communication and dialogue to processes of emancipation; the route to emancipation lies through radical democracy

Linklater: ‘expand the moral boundaries of political community’

Emancipation: this means a process where borders of the sovereign state lose their ethical and moral significance Citizens must share the same duties and

obligations of non-citizens as they do to their fellow citizens

Critical theory tries to identify and nurture tendencies that exist within the present conjuncture that point in the direction of emancipation