Normative Theory in International Relations
A Pragmatic Approach

An account of the development of normative theory in international relations over the past two decades.

Molly Cochran (Author)

9780521639651, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 December 1999

320 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.43 kg

Normative theory in international relations, as it is discussed at present in the framework of the cosmopolitan/communitarian debate, is in a condition of stasis. Cosmopolitan and communitarian positions are generally assumed to be irreconcilable, with no means available for reaching conclusions on ethical questions in world politics. This book pursues three lines of inquiry. First, it aims to examine the nature and the extent of the impasse within this debate. Second, it re-evaluates whether the cosmopolitan/communitarian dichotomy offers a complete picture of the most pressing issues at stake within normative international relations theory. The book suggests that a more refined focus on epistemology and questions of foundationalism and antifoundationalism is necessary. Third, it constructs an argument for a normative approach to international ethics which draws from the tradition of American pragmatism and is sensitive to the wider picture of concerns raised in the course of the book.

Introduction
Part I. Evaluating the Impasse: 1. Cosmopolitanism: Rawlsian approaches to international distributive justice
2. Communitarianism: Michael Walzer and international justice
3. Beyond the impasse? Hegelian method in the cosmopolitanism of Andrew Linklater and the communitarianism of Mervyn Frost
Part II. Confronting the Impasse: 4. Poststructuralist antifoundationalism, ethics, and normative IR theory
5. Neo-pragmatist antifoundationalism, ethics, and normative IR theory
Part III. International Ethics as Pragmatic Critique: 6. International ethics as pragmatic critique: a pragmatic synthesis of the work of John Dewey and Richard Rorty
7. Facilitating moral inclusion: feminism and pragmatic critique
8. From moral imagination to international public spheres: the political and institutional implications of pragmatic critique
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]