5 Poststructuralism

In this section of the course, you will learn about poststructuralist theories of international relations. Poststructuralist approaches take a critical stance, interrogating how particular understandings of the world gain acceptance as uncontested fact. They are concerned with how social meanings are made, enforced, contested and renegotiated in relation to other social factors.

Activity 5

Timing: Allow approximately 25 minutes

Part 1: Poststructuralism theory quiz

Timing: 10 minutes

Watch the animation about poststructuralism in International Relations, then select which of the following statements about the poststructuralist approach to international relations are true and which are false.

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 9

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Transcript: Video 9 Poststructuralism in International Relations

SPEAKER:

Poststructuralism focuses on how language and power shape what's seen as the reality of global politics. Rather than offering a grand theory of international politics, it instead questions the taken for granted assumptions. A critical post-positivist approach, post-structuralism emerged in the late 20th century, drawing on broader movements that challenged positivist ideas about objectivity and truth. Post-structuralism rests on three key assumptions. First, language isn't neutral. Words don't just describe the world-- they construct it. Calling someone an illegal immigrant frames them as a criminal, but calling them a refugee suggests they're fleeing from danger. Language choices shape public opinion and determine which policies are seen as legitimate. Post-structuralists ask whose framing dominates and whose is silenced and what are the consequences.

Second, power and knowledge are intertwined. What we know about IR is shaped by dominant discourses, which are sustained by the most powerful actors. Take the label failed state. It's used by powerful states to present other countries as chaotic or dangerous. This legitimises intervention and military action, typically in ways that serve powerful states' own interests. Post-structuralists ask, who gets to label a failed state and to what end?

Third, identities are not fixed or given. States construct narratives to define themselves in relation to others, and these narratives often shift. After 9/11, the US defined itself as the defender of freedom and civilisation against a threatening, radicalised Muslim other. These constructed identities shaped its foreign policy. US identity is continually redefined in relation to others, like a rising China or an aggressive Russia, again influencing and justifying foreign policy.

Michel Foucault's work on power is fundamental to the post-structuralist perspective. Writers like David Campbell and Jenny Edkins build on his work to discuss how states construct their identities. Post-structuralism has been criticised for its focus on critique and failure to provide clear alternatives. However, whilst post-structuralism may not offer many answers, its focus on language and power does help us ask more incisive questions.

End transcript: Video 9 Poststructuralism in International Relations

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Video 9 Poststructuralism in International Relations

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Timing: 15 minutes

Select the answer for

Part 2: Poststructuralist approaches to IR

here

As you have learned throughout the prior sections of this short course, true/false simplifications are a helpful revision tactic but they do not always capture all the important features of IR theories. In the following activity, you will be expanding on your understanding of poststructuralist approaches to IR by considering what they are, and are not, most helpful for achieving.

What is a poststructuralist approach to international relations most useful for? Select all that apply.

You can attempt the question as many times as you’d like. To reveal the correct answer untick all the selections and click ‘Reveal answer’ at the bottom of the activity.

Establishing causality between different variables in international relations

Interrogating how dominant structures of knowledge and understanding came about

Challenging political assumptions that have been taken-for-granted

Examining the political effects of particular language choices

Predicting behaviours of state and non-state actors

Establishing parsimonious or universal accounts of international relations

Revealing objective facts about international relations using scientific methods

Helping uncover how dominant discourses and representations can shape international relations

Examining the contingency of many of the supposedly objective facts of international relations, as well as how they undergo constant reinforcement and reproduction

Explaining why political actors behave in the ways that they do, and what effects this has

 

a. 

Establishing causality between different variables in international relations

b. 

Interrogating how dominant structures of knowledge and understanding came about

c. 

Challenging political assumptions that have been taken-for-granted

d. 

Examining the political effects of particular language choices

e. 

Predicting behaviours of state and non-state actors

f. 

Establishing parsimonious or universal accounts of international relations

g. 

Revealing objective facts about international relations using scientific methods

h. 

Helping uncover how dominant discourses and representations can shape international relations

i. 

Examining the contingency of many of the supposedly objective facts of international relations, as well as how they undergo constant reinforcement and reproduction

j. 

Explaining why political actors behave in the ways that they do, and what effects this has

The correct answers are b, c, d, h and i.

In this section of the course, you have been introduced to poststructuralist theories of International Relations. Where you have encountered various IR theories that seek to explain developments in international relations, poststructuralism is not an explanatory theory. Instead, it is a critical theory, in that it challenges some of the assumptions that other approaches might take for granted.

Poststructuralist approaches interrogate how social meanings are made, enforced, contested and renegotiated in relation to other social factors, and how certain understandings of the world come to gain acceptance as fact.