The purpose of this assignment is to further develop your ability to think across the
The purpose of this assignment is to further develop your ability
to think across the range of thinkers and themes in this module. Select the
question from the list below, again referring to primary and secondary texts
where appropriate to advance an argument. We expect you to give us an
exposition of the main arguments and issues being considered in the text(s)
that you analyse, and to give us an evaluation (which can be positive or negative)
based on your understanding of the main issues at stake, and the debates in the
existing literature.
For this assignment, you MUST consider THREE theories (or at least
three leading thinkers ) in answering your question, and at least one of these
MUST be a ‘critical’ theory or thinker (the ones we cover in semester two). You
MUST also select different thinkers/ theories to those you wrote about in your
earlier assignments. Any submission that does not follow these instructions
will fail this assignment for inadequate task fulfilment. The aim is to allow
students to engage with as many theories as possible during the course of the
year.
Just to be clear, aside from the material on the radical right,
all theories we engage with this term are within the broad family of critical
theories of IR, and most of them have some lineage to Marxism. You can
nevertheless use two or three of those theories if you wish to do so as they
differ considerably from one another, and you will have not written on any of
those theories in your previous assignments.
But make sure you do so in a way that clearly answers the question.
For
example, you could use Marx, Lenin and Gramsci if you wanted to — as long as
you use them as three distinct thinkers with distinct contributions. It is also
perfectly fine to refer to other theories that you have covered previously if
you do so to illustrate a wider point. You could, for example, explain Robert
Cox’s distinction between Critical Theory and “problem- solving
theory” by exposing his critique of neorealism even if you have already covered neorealism
in your previous essays. As long as you do not pick neorealism here as one of
your three theories
Which IR theory provides the most compelling account of the role of identity for our understanding and explanation of international conflict?
2) Why, if at all, should we pay attention to the role of norms and shared beliefs systems in our understanding and explanation of contemporary international relations?
3) Is capitalism a major cause of interstate war?
4) Is progress possible in international politics?
5) What are the main sources of injustice and domination in international politics?
6) Which IR theory provides the most compelling account of the role of international institutions in maintaining global order since 1945?
7) Is knowledge production always inherently political in the study and conduct of international relations?
chose one of the questions above and answer the question with 3 thinking or theories