Abstract
IR's dominant theoretical and methodological approaches are, to varying degrees, compliance oriented. IR needs a theory of resistance if it is to survive its current methodological and ethical crisis. Resistance, read from a broadly Foucaultian perspective, is a process in which hidden, small-scale and marginal agencies have an impact on power, on norms, civil society, the state and the 'international'. This may be in the form of individual or grass-roots critical agency not coordinated or mobilized on a large scale but still globally connected. Such agency is often discursive and aimed at peaceful change and transformation. Through such critical agency a post-colonial civil society has emerged, which is transversal, transnational, fragmented, but may be constitutive of new, hybrid and post-liberal forms of peace. © The Author(s) 2011.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 419-440 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Cooperation and Conflict |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2011 |
Keywords
- agency
- civil society
- critique
- IR
- post-colonial
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute