Week 3

Question 1

What are critical theories in IR?

Answer 1

Approaches that challenge realism and liberalism by:

• Questioning dominant assumptions
• Emphasizing emancipation (freedom from domination)
• Reframing knowledge, power, and global order
Examples: Marxism, post‑colonialism, decoloniality, feminism, post‑modernism, Frankfurt School, English School

Question 2

Why are critical theories needed in the 21st century?

Answer 2

Because new global challenges require approaches that:

• Question power and inequality
• Address identity and marginalization
• Go beyond traditional IR lenses

Question 3

Why might terms like Marxism, post‑colonialism, feminism be controversial?

Answer 3

They:

• Confront entrenched power structures
• Expose inequality
• Challenge Eurocentric narratives
• Demand social transformation

Question 4

What are the key features of critical theories?

Answer 4

• Emancipatory aims
• Knowledge is socially constructed
• Focus on marginalized voices
• Draws from diverse traditions
• Consciousness of exploitation
• Redefines hierarchical global order

Question 5

What does “emancipatory value” mean in critical IR?

Answer 5

Freeing people from domination by:

• The state
• Capitalism
• Patriarchy
• Empire

Question 6

How do critical theories treat knowledge?

Answer 6

Knowledge is:

• Socially constructed
• Situated (context‑dependent)
• Value‑laden, not neutral
• Produced by specific interests

Question 7

What is Marxism in IR?

Answer 7

A class‑focused analysis that explains global politics through:

• Capitalist relations
• Exploitation
• Conflict between elites and workers

Question 8

Core Marxist concepts relevant to IR?

Answer 8

• Materialist interpretation of history
• Surplus value
• Alienation
• Class struggle
• Dictatorship of the proletariat
• Classless/stateless society

Question 9

What is surplus value?

Answer 9

Profit gained when:

• Workers create more value than their wages
• Capitalists appropriate the difference

Question 10

What is alienation in Marxist theory?

Answer 10

Workers become estranged from:

• Their labor
• The products they make
• Other people
• Their own sense of self

Question 11

Apply Marxism to a 21st‑century event (e.g., BLM).

Answer 11

• State and capital divide the global working class
• Race/class divisions obscure solidarity
• Emancipation requires questioning state legitimacy and capitalism

Question 12

What is historical materialism?

Answer 12

The idea that:

• Economic structures and class relations drive change
• Institutions and ideas are shaped by material conditions

Question 13

What is Rosenberg’s critique in The Follies of Globalisation Theory?

Answer 13

• Globalization continues capitalist relations
• Not a wholly new era
• Mainstream theories show historical amnesia and technological determinism

Question 14

What is uneven and combined development?

Answer 14

Different societies develop at different speeds, producing:

• Hybrid outcomes
• Unequal global structures

Question 15

What is technological determinism (as critiqued)?

Answer 15

The mistaken belief that:

• Technology alone drives change
• Ignores capitalism and historical context

Question 16

What is post‑colonialism in IR?

Answer 16

A critique showing that:

• Western knowledge is not neutral or universal
• Colonial power relations still shape identities and institutions

Question 17

What is decoloniality?

Answer 17

A project to:

• Break away from Eurocentric knowledge
• Center subaltern voices
• Transform global epistemologies

Question 18

Key features of post‑colonialism?

Answer 18

• Analysis of power relations
• Decolonization of knowledge/discourse
• Resistance and agency
• Anti‑imperialism
• Moral/political opposition to colonization

Question 19

Key post‑colonial theorists?

Answer 19

• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
• Aníbal Quijano
• Robbie Shilliam
• Walter Mignolo
• Edward Said
• Gayatri Spivak
• Homi Bhabha

Question 20

What colonial legacies persist after independence?

Answer 20

• Knowledge hierarchies
• Economic dependency
• Racialized identities
• Unequal institutions

Question 21

Define colonialism.

Answer 21

Domination of a territory/people by an external power through:

• Political control
• Economic exploitation
• Cultural reshaping

Question 22

Define post‑colonialism.

Answer 22

Study and critique of colonial legacies, focusing on:

• Resistant voices
• Transformation of knowledge
• Power structures

Question 23

Why do some places remain colonies today?

Answer 23

• Strategic importance
• Economic ties
• Legal/constitutional arrangements
• Disputed self‑determination

Question 24

What does Said mean by “exile”?

Answer 24

A condition of:

• Estrangement
• In‑betweenness
• Identity shaped by displacement

Question 25

What is “speaking truth to power”?

Answer 25

The intellectual duty to: • Expose imperial/Eurocentric structures • Resist nationalism and dogma • Practice secular criticism

Question 26

What is feminism in IR?

Answer 26

A critical approach (1980s) that: • Analyzes gender as socially constructed • Explains male dominance in power structures • Aims to transform unequal relations

Question 27

What is V. Spike Peterson’s point on gender?

Answer 27

• Gender is invisible unless theorized • Once seen as constructed, its effects can be addressed

Question 28

Key features of feminist IR theory?

Answer 28

• Gendered reading of events • Ethical commitment to inclusivity • Analysis of masculinities vs femininities • Transformation of power relations

Question 29

What is Cynthia Enloe’s “feminist curiosity”?

Answer 29

A practice of: • Questioning everyday gender dynamics • Exposing hidden patriarchy • Developing tools for resistance

Question 30

How does Enloe connect patriarchy, militarism, nationalism?

Answer 30

• Militarism and nationalism reinforce patriarchy • Token inclusion of women often requires masculinized thinking

Question 31

What is intersectionality in feminist IR?

Answer 31

Study of how: • Race • Gender • Class Intersect to create compounded marginalization

Question 32

What is post‑modernism in IR?

Answer 32

A critique of: • Grand narratives • Fixed truths • Shows how language and power construct “reality”

Question 33

What is the Frankfurt School’s relevance to IR?

Answer 33

• Exposes capitalism, culture, ideology as domination • Links emancipation to critique of instrumental reason and mass culture

Question 34

What is the English School’s relevance to critical IR?

Answer 34

• Studies international society (rules, institutions) • Studies world society (moral community) • Critiques balance between order and justice

Question 35

How do critical theories challenge repressive institutions?

Answer 35

By: • Diagnosing domination (state, capital, patriarchy, empire) • Centering marginalized voices • Proposing transformative pathways

Question 36

What does “redefining hierarchical global order” involve?

Answer 36

• Asking who benefits from current structures • Reconstructing institutions/norms to share power more equally