Political thought, international relations and a Tale of Two Modernities
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Date
2017
Authors
Freire, Lucas G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
In their book Empire, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
develop a narrative about the transition from the
mediaeval to the modern, secular, world, showing that
there were two projects of modernity at first, but that
one prevailed over the other. The prevailing modern
worldview did not do away with a transcendental
form of control. Instead, it offered a post-mediaeval
view of transcendence, which was then imported
into politics, leading to the state as a transcendental
apparatus of control. This article applies their thesis
to the analysis of the development of political thought
on international relations. It is argued that modern
international thought was constrained and enabled by
the project of modernity which prevailed. It is far from
clear whether contemporary international thought can
rid itself of the notion of the Westphalian state as the
transcendental apparatus of control, yet it is reluctant
to accept the notion of a world state as the ultimate,
natural, implication of the transcendental grounds for
the modern state.
Description
Keywords
Hardt and Negri, Modernity, International political theory, Sovereignty, Contemporary political thought
Citation
Freire, L. G. (2017). Political thought, international relations and a Tale of Two Modernities. Acta Academica, 49(2), 34-50.