Toward a Paradigm Shift in International Relations Studies - (Palgrave Studies in International Relations) by Navid Pourmokhtari (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book argues that not only has the present international relations (IR) paradigm failed to preserve global peace in our time, it has also proved to be an obstacle in this regard, and for this reason a paradigm shift is urgently required. With a view to demonstrating the IR paradigm's failure to secure global peace, moreover, a Foucauldian-inspired discourse analysis is used here to flesh out an archaeology of what I call knowledge relations within IR studies.

This analysis reveals that within IR's paradigmatic corridors of knowledge the theoretical/analytical category of war has been privileged, i.e., elevated to the level of chief subject and object of analysis vis-à-vis peace. In order to show how this is the case, moreover, this book examines the paradigm's mainstream debates, e.g., those on human nature, power, and the state of nature, and by implication state sovereignty and nationalism, in addition to its authoritative subfields, in particular peace studies, international relations theory, global governance, and security studies. Each of these works reproduces, indeed glorifies, war to the exclusion of a lasting global peace, and in large part by promoting certain knowledges that are racial, colonial, gendered, and consequently bellicose.

All this connotes that the IR paradigm is grounded in a regime of knowledge that tells us everything about the dynamics of war and nothing substantive about realizing peace--hence the pressing need for a paradigm shift. Put differently, under the auspices of IR studies, contemplating peace is fruitless, a mere scholarly mirage, and precisely because achieving it under this paradigmatic status quo is not, and will never be, a condition of possibility. If anything, this book demonstrates that we have not even begun to speak truth to knowledge in the cause of global peace.

From the Back Cover

This book asks why the current IR paradigm has outlasted its utility and argues that despite changes to world politics, the paradigm of IR remains far more preoccupied with the dynamics of war and almost silent, when it comes to commenting on the conditions of lasting, global peace. Cognizant of the dominant paradigms supposed preoccupation with seeking peace, the author shows how IR's mainstream discourses work to reproduce war.

Navid Pourmokhtari teaches at Concordia University of Edmonton. His research interests lie in comparative politics and international relations studies with a focus on gender and feminism, social movements and revolutionary studies, and international peace and security studies. Pourmokhtari's first book, entitled Iran's Green Movement: Everyday Resistance, Political Contestation, and Social Mobilization, was published in 2021. His other recent publications have appeared in Third World Quarterly, International Sociology, Against the Current, Jadaliyya, the Journal of Human Trafficking, Sociology of Islam, Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, Foucault Studies, and the Journal of International Women's Studies

About the Author

Navid Pourmokhtari is Assistant Professor of Governance, Law, and Management at Athabasca University. His teaching and research interests lie in gender and global governance, social movements and revolutions, and international peace and security. Pourmokhtari is also the author of Iran's Green Movement: Everyday Resistance, Political Contestation, and Social Mobilization. His other publications have appeared in Third World Quarterly, International Sociology, Against the Current, Jadaliyya, the Journal of Human Trafficking, Sociology of Islam, Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, Foucault Studies, and the Journal of International Women's Studies.

Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada Navid Pourmokhtari