Reorienting Realism:

Context, Crisis and Critique

A workshop to be held at the University of Edinburgh, June 23-24

Sponsored by the Royal Society of Edinburgh

This workshop is intended to investigate the revival of interest in ‘classical’ Realism since the turn of the millennium. The participants critically engage with Realism and examine its philosophical and historical roots within the context of modernity’s various crises.  The workshop is designed to appeal to those who are interested in the history of international thought, critical theory, and the contemporary relevance of Realism as a theory of International Relations.

For further details and expressions of interest in attending this workshop please contact the workshop organiser, Dr. Seán Molloy at sean.molloy@ed.ac.uk

Participants

Prof. Hartmut Behr, Newcastle University

Dr. Adam Humphreys, Brasenose College, Oxford University

Dr. Oliver Jütersonke, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

Prof. Timothy Luke, Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech)

Dr. Seán Molloy, University of Edinburgh

Dr. Vassilios Paipais, University of Edinburgh

Prof. Nicholas Rengger, University of St. Andrews

Dr. Felix Rösch, Newcastle University

Prof. William Scheuerman, Indiana University

Prof. Michael C. Williams, University of Ottawa

Dr. Vibeke Tjalve, Danish Institute for International Studies

For those in London, there is a book launch coming up featuring two of the scheduled speakers at this year’s Millennium conference - Posthuman International Relations by Erika Cudworth and Stephen Hobden.

It will be held at University of East London (UEL) on 14th March. Professor John Urry from Lancaster and Dr. Jonathon Louth from Chester University will also be speaking, in addition to Cudworth and Hobden. Prof. Urry’s paper is entitled ‘Complex Systems and Multiple Futures’, and Dr. Louth’s paper is ‘Newtonians in a Non-Linear World: The Perils of Ignoring Complex Phenomena’

The launch will be held in room EBG.08, Docklands Campus from 3.30-5.00pm.

Globalization, Subjectification, and the Historicity of State Formation

Debates on globalization tend to assume an analytical tension between economic dynamics on the one hand and the nation-state on the other—an assumption shared by both liberal IR theory and its critics, who for instance see nationalism as a backlash against globalization. Jean-François Bayart, well known among Africanists, has always argued against such a zero-sum interpretation of state and market—as a historical sociologists of state formation, he challenges this core narrative within IR. In this Talk, Bayart—amongst others—explains how the development of capitalism and the nation-state are part of one and the same movement, argues for an event-focused approach to comparative analysis, and elucidates the notion of subjectification in global politics.

Read the whole thing here.