IR
POS160 Final Review
Terms
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- Unconscious ideology
- DefAn ideology that is not formally warned and that is therefore difficult to identify. I is the common sense foundation of our world views that is beyond debate. SigVery politically powerful. Help us make sense of our world. Usually unquestionable...
- Social construct
- Def any phenomenon "invented" or "constructed" by participants in a particular culture or society, existing because people agree to behave as if it exists or follow certain conventional rules. SigIn our study of constructivism, we examined Alexander Wendt's core claim that "anarchy is what states make of it" meaning that it is the states who are responsible for having international anarchy... The responsibility of such a claim is often dodged by death of the author.
- Modes of production
- Def A way in which human beings organize themselves through nature. In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of the productive forces (means of production) and social relations of production. Marx recognizes seven distinct epochs of human history, each corresponding to a particular mode of production. Sig While studying globalization the historical materialist view was that it is just the capitalistic stage of history. History ends at the next stage, when socialism or communism is realized.
- Territoriality (theory of)
- DefThe theory that your space/territory travels with you. You have two options when someone enters your space: fight or flight. The threat comes when someone enters frontally. SigThis was a theory used to illustrate realism on the individual level. The other theory used was the frustration/aggression theory.
- Ontology
- Def a description (like a formal specification of a program) of the concepts and relationships that can exist for an agent or a community of agents. Sig In conclusion of our overview of IR theory, an onotological approach aided in making sense of our newfound knowledge.
- Traditional nuclear family
- Def A traditional nuclear family consists of a married couple and their biological child or children. Sig There is no higher value than living in a secure heterosexual nuclear family, it gives meaning to one's life.
- International society
- Defan assertion made by Kegley that citizens of the world have a common heritage and common problems that emerged after the Cold War. This was the society that emerged when autocratic governments transformed to democratic. Sigcore claim of Kegley's idealism "there is an international society". This was an alternative to world government and also an alternative to international anarchy.
- End of history
- Def the end of ideological evolution. Sig In our study of globalization, Fukuyama insists that the end of history is marked by the end of ideological evolution. Since liberalism has no significant contenders, liberal democracy is widely accepted and thus marks the end of ideological evolution.
- Hegelian dialectic
- Defthe process whereby opposite views or forces come into conflict, which eventually leads to the overcoming or reconciliation of the opposition in a new and presumably higher form. Sigin our study of globalization. Fukuyama had claimed that there was no other ideology to contend with liberalism and therefore no other new ideology would be able to emerge... we were at the end of ideological evolution.
- Anarchy
- Defabsence of central rule SigWhile studying realism we compared the governmental structures domestically and internationally. Domestically, a hierarchical structure is present. Internationally, anarchy is present; which, in Waltz's opinion is the "permissive cause of war"
- Neoliberal
- Def Neo-liberalism is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. Although the word is rarely heard in the United States, you can clearly see the effects of neo-liberalism here as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer....Around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter- American Development Bank....the capitalist crisis over the last 25 years, with its shrinking profit rates, inspired the corporate elite to revive economic liberalism. That's what makes it 'neo' or new. Sig in our discussion of globalization we took into consideration the views held by neo-liberals and historical materialists. Neo-liberals saw globalization as good because it spreads the economic, political, and cultural benefits of liberalism.
- Civilization
- Def "a cultural entity" "the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species". Sig In our study of modernization and development theory we overviewed Samuel Huntington's book "The Clash of Civilizations" which was the idea that different civilizations will inevitable come into conflict with eachother. This book was published at the most ideal time, 9/11, which gave it instant credibility.
- Empty core of liberalism
- Def inability to deliver a meaningful life. Sig In our study of globalization, the empty core of liberalism was highlighted in Christoff's inability to fulfill all of Truman's desires, despite living in a perfect world. So the sense of security found in Sea Haven was not enough to satisfy Truman's internal desires for something more; this disables Fukuyama's myth to function.
- Gender as a variable
- Def what feminists ought to study, which is gender. Sig It will make feminist engagements with IR more balanced.
- March of democracy
- DefThis was the trend that Kegley noticed after the Cold War where nations were freely choosing democracy as their political ideology. SigThis was proof to Kegley's assertions that there is an international society who have common interests. Post Cold-War realities of cooperation among sovereign nation states *realism could not explain this trend*
- Security dilemma
- DefA situation in which one state's security spells another state's insecurity. SigThis came up in our discussion of realism. Explains the tensions evident during the Cold War between US and Soviet Union. Incorporates the element of fear which is necessary for Waltz's myth to function.
- Feminist epistemology
- Deftheorists who investigate the role of gender in knowledge production. Sig Motivated by the political project of eliminating the oppression of women, feminist epistemologists are interested in how the norms and practices of knowledge production affect the lives of women and are implicated in systems of oppression. Feminist epistemologists seek to understand not only how our social relations of gender have shaped our knowledge practices, but also whether and how these relations should play a role in good knowing
- Systemic theory
- DefThe theory of the causes of war lodged at the international level. SigThe first and second level of analysis are needed to supplement international anarchy. Waltz introduces the systemic theory in "theory of international politics" and suggests that there is no world governance and that, therefore, propels nations into war.
- Pure communication
- DefHonest communication with each other; ability to see common goals. Honest communication with another state of individual united around one common standard of goodness, truth, and beauty. *calling off work is an example of impure communication. SigIdealists place a premium on pure communication in their attempts to build an international society.
- Opposed dualisms
- Def the extents to which realist bring about gender hierarchies along with hierarchies of class and state. SigUsed by Jones in the chapter related to Gender as one of the 4 themes on which feminists have critiqued realism for being "inextricably bound up with a hierarchical world order"
- Tragedy of the commons
- DefIn 17th century England there was a large demand for sheep wool. As a result, overgrazing occurred and, as a solution, the common land was privatized. SigThis is significant in relation to idealism. Once Kegley asserted that there was an international society, a common environment was soon considered. If one nation were to overfish it would invariably affect the rest of the world.
- Myth function
- DefThe transformation of what is particular, cultural, and ideological into what appears to be universally natural and purely empirical. SigThis transitions us from a unconscious/conscious ideology into an IR theory.
- Democratic peace theory
- DefThe theory that democracies don't fight in wars with other democracies. This is because democracy is rule by the people, who generally prefer peace. The only reason people propel themselves in war is b/c there are undemocratic governments. SigIn order to come up with a systemic theory the Democratic Peace Theory was used to illustrate the state/societal level.
- Historical materialism
- Def methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and the history which was first articulated by Karl Marx. Looks for the causes of developments and changes in human societies in the way in which humans collectively make the means to live, thus giving an emphasis to everything that coexists with the economic base of society. Sig This is one of the two views taken into consideration in our study of globalization. (The other was neo-liberalism) Their view on globalization was that it is bad because it does not result in an equitable distribution of global wealth.
- Torn nation
- Def A nation where different civilizations have influenced different segments of the population. SigIn our discussion of modernization and development theory, civilizations are not guided by specific boundaries. Within a nation there might possibly be different civilizations therein; which, in Huntington's view, leads to the clash of civilizations.
- Rational actor model
- Def there is some unified national actor where all parties act in unison, being all the same in our goals and motivations. Sig In our study of constructivism, Christoff serves as the rational action model as he pulls the strings of Truman to control his every move.
- Structure and process
- Def The nature of international anarchy - a structure that puts constraints on state behavior so that competition and conflict are guaranteed and much cooperation is ruled out or processes of learning that take place among states in their everyday interactions so that more cooperative institutions and behaviors result. Sig Wendt claims that the debate about which of these two aspects of anarchy theorists decide to stress- structure or process.
- Frustration/aggression hypothesis
- Defamong human beings, the frustration of their attempts to achieve goals often leads them to take out their aggressive impulses on scapegoats. SigIn order to come up with a systemic theory we considered other levels. At each level we considered a couple examples. Individual territoriality and frustration/aggression were used to illustrate Waltz's first level of analysis.
- Death of the author
- Def there is no one to take credit or pin the formation of a state onSig By exposing states as the decision makers who make international anarchy, Wendt ensures that the neorealist anarchy tale ceases to function as if no one authored it. States are the authors of anarchy.
- Fault lines
- Def the divisions between countries, usually marked by war or conflict. Sig In our study of modernization and development theory we considered the underlying reasons of conflict between nations. We named these conflicts "fault lines" and assessed civilizations as if they were plate tectonics, thus anticipating their collisions.