| ID | 121855 |
| Title Proper | Why Hans Morgenthau was not a critical theorist (and why contemporary IR realists should care) |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Levine, Daniel J |
| Publication | 2013. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | A growing body of critical and reflexive international relations (IR) realism draws on the work of Hans Morgenthau. While not without merit, I argue that these appropriations rely on selective - perhaps even wishful - readings of Morgenthau's work: the reflexivity that he calls for, I argue, is not matched by what his theory actually delivers. Raising that distinction, I then trace out its consequences for contemporary critical and reflexive IR realists, in two steps. First, I identify similar reflexive shortcomings in recent work by neoclassical realist Randall Schweller. These, I suggest, point to abiding challenges to which contemporary critical/reflexive realism must prove itself equal. I then survey the notions of reflexivity at work in the critical/reflexive realism of Michael C. Williams and Richard Ned Lebow. Do they go far enough? Do they answer those challenges? I conclude by arguing that Morgenthau's legacy for critical and reflexive realism should be reconsidered: properly understood, his work signals an impasse that is general to IR as a discipline. Signaling the depth of that impasse constitutes a lasting legacy, with which critical/reflexive realists have not yet dealt adequately. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Relations Vol. 27, No.1; Mar 2013: p.95-118 |
| Journal Source | International Relations Vol. 27, No.1; Mar 2013: p.95-118 |
| Key Words | Classical Realism ; Critical Realism ; Critical Theory ; Hans J Morgenthau ; Neoclassical Realism ; Reflexive Realism |