Concepts at work : on the linguistic infrastructure of world politics / edited by Piki Ish-Shalom.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ish-Shalom, Piki, editor.

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International relations--Language.

International relations.

Discourse analysis.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 225 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2021.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Concepts are socially and linguistically constructed and used for multiple purposes, such as justifying war in the name of democracy; or, using the idea of democracy to resist Western intervention and influence. In this fascinating and novel edited collection, Piki Ish-Shalom and the contributors interrogate the "conceptions of concepts" in international relations. Using theoretical frameworks from Gramsci and Bourdieu, among others, the authors show that not interrogating the meaning of the language we use to talk about international relations obscures the way we understand (or portray) IR. The authors examine self-determination, winning in war, avoidance of war, military design and reform agenda, vagueness in political discourse, "blue economy," friendship, and finally, the very idea of the "international community" itself. As the author asserts, Bourdieu's sociology of field and Gramsci's political theory, combined, "offer us a socio-political theory of relations of power and domination concealed by doxic knowledge and taken-for-granted rules, in which essential contested concepts and political-serving conceptions can and do play an important role."

Contents:

Introduction / Piki Ish- Shalom

Talking about self-determination : contested conceptions and political implications of an undisputed concept / Jonas Wolff

The concept of success in (and of) war / Brent J. Steele and Luke Campbell

The ambivalence of (not) being in a "war" : the "civilian power" Germany and the "stabilization operation" in Afghanistan / Anna Geis

Encountering nomads in Israel Defense Forces and beyond / Philippe Beaulieu- Brossard

Political concepts and vagueness : cyberattacks in the Israeli political discourse / Neta Kremer

Shifting tides : the blue economy and concepts in practice / Christian Bueger

tEnabling critique : the use of "friendship" in German- Israeli relations / Felix Berenskötter

The conceptual virtues of the international community as an empty signifier / Mor Mitrani

Concepts at work in global IR / Jan Wilkens and Oliver Kessler.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472128686

047212868X

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.