Shape shifting: Civilizational discourse and the analysis of cross-cultural interaction in the constitution of international society

In: Journal of international political theory: JIPT, Band 16, Heft 2, S. 190-209

Abstract

The concept of civilization is intrinsic to the English School's understanding of international society. At the same time, engagement with discourses of civilization has been an important site of contestation within the English School, with quite different narratives of the evolution, structures and dynamics of international society being articulated. I argue that deeper analysis of how different waves of English School scholars engage with discourses of civilization provides a valuable pathway for mapping the evolution of English School thought and its understanding of the structure and dynamics of international society. Discourse analysis, a method firmly embedded in interpretivist approaches, can provide us with a valuable approach to unravel the complexities of English School thinking about civilization. Applying discourse analysis to these bodies of work allows us to explore nodal points within English School debates, the layering of particular texts, and how scholars engage with strategies of juxtapositioning and counternarrative in order to reveal how subjects are positioned in hierarchies of authority and reveal previously subjugated voices in their interpretations of the constitution and evolution of international society.