Decolonizing Grand Theories: Postcolonial Ontology, Historical Sociology and Mid-Level Theories in International Relations

✍ Scribed by Sanjeev Kumar H.M.

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 310
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book examines the modes by which the grand theories of International Relations can be restructured at the level of meta-theory. It emphasizes the inability of grand theories to make sense of international relations in postcolonial societies and argues to engage in such restructuring in the domain of ontology. This is done by making a historical sociological defence toward adopting mid-level theories in IR. It is a critique of the meta-theoretical foundations of Kenneth Waltz's grand theory of neorealism, by pivoting itself upon the framework of postcolonial ontology. Dwelling upon Mohammed Ayoob’s mid-level theory of subaltern realism, it argues for undertaking the task of restructuring International Relations at the level of meta-theory, largely in the sphere of ontology. It explains how the thrust of grand theories such as neorealism, on ontological singularity can be circumvented. Owing to this, International Relations can experience a meta-theoretical transformation that may manifest in the broader engagement of the discipline itself, with the very conception of ontological multiplicity.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Author
1 Introduction
Decolonizing IR: Inquiry into the Ontic and Epistemic Trajectories
Hinging Back on Meta-Theory
Selecting a Mid-Level Theory
Why Subaltern Realism?
References
2 The Limitations of Grand Theory
The Epistemic Stagnation of the Grand Theory in IR and the Conundrum of Metatheory
The Metatheoretical Foundations of Neorealism and the Notions of Order and Anarchy
Bridging the Great Divide and the Critique of the Neorealist Conception of Order and Anarchy
The Constructivist Reconceptualization of Anarchy and the Reformulation of the Great Divide
The Limitations of Grand Theory
The Ontology of the Postcolonial Condition and Subaltern Realism’s Reconceptualization of Order and Anarchy
Conclusion
References
3 On the Level of Analysis
The First Great Debate and the Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations
Idealism, Realism and the Emphasis on the Internal Structure of Political Systems
Human Nature as the Level of Analysis
The Second Great Debate and the Level-of-Analysis Problem in IR
Waltz’s Reified Conception of Structure and a Monadic Focus on the System
Region as a Level of Analysis
The Agent-Structure Debate and the Reworking of the Level-of-Analysis Problem in IR
Conclusion
References
4 Subaltern Realism and Historical Sociology: Transcending Chronofetishism and Tempocentrism
The Limitations of the Neo-Trotskyist Theory of IR
Understanding Historical Sociology
The Westphalian Axiom and the Need for Epistemological Anarchy
Subaltern Realism’s Treatment of Historical Sociology
References
5 The Ontology of Postcoloniality and Subaltern Realism: Toward the Restructuring of International Relations at the Level of Meta-Theory
The Ontology of Postcoloniality and International Relations: An Inquiry into the Making of the Hybrid Subjectivity
Hybrid Subjectivity and Subaltern Realism’s Treatment of the Postcolonial Ontology of IR
References
6 After Decolonization: Transcending the Ontological Singularity of Grand Theories
The Grand Theories’ Thrust on Ontological Singularity
Ontological Singularity and the Political Discourse of Anarchy
Cartesian Dualism, Hegelian Theodicy and making of Ontological Singularity
The Imperialism of Reason and the Making of Neorealism’s Ontological Singularity
References
7 Decolonization and the Reclamation of Ontological Multiplicity: Toward the Rescripting of the History of Ideas in International Relations
Toward Framing a More Inclusive Disciplinary Conceptual Map
Neorealism’s Skinnerian Predicament and the Prospects for Ontological Multiplicity
Liberating Structural Realism from Skinnerian Mythologies
Decolonization, Minor Literature and the Neologistic Portrait of Multi-Level Theory
Conclusion
References
8 Conclusion
References
Index