Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series - HPS³ - Ian Hurd
Wann: Do, 18.04.2024, 17:15 Uhr bis 18:45 Uhr
Wo: Political Science Department, Von-Melle-Park-9 , 20146 Hamburg, A215
Please be invited to the Hamburg Empirical Political Science Seminar Series - HPS³. The seminar series features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy. It takes place on Wednesdays or Thursdays in the Summer Semester 2024 in person and can be attended by UHH researchers, guests, and students. For further information about dates and speakers, please refer to the HPS³ Website.
We welcome on
18 April 2024, 17:15-18:45 CET in VMP 9 A215
Ian Hurd (Northwestern University)
Title: The Problem with World Order
Abstract:
Classical approaches to international relations often focus on the problem of order, which is defined as a problem of under-supply. From Immanuel Kant to Hedley Bull to Anne-Marie Slaughter, the classical tradition focuses on understanding why there isn’t enough order in world politics and how to make more of it. The first project of international relations, it is said, is to create a foundation of order upon which other projects can be built.
In this tradition, ‘world order’ is understood to be an objective condition that is universally desirable. A closer look at the concept, however, makes it clear that it is politically contested, and every ordering project involves tradeoffs among interests and produces both losers and winners. This is equally true of the American ‘rules-based order’ after 1945 as it is of realist spheres of influence, and of British imperial ordering in the 19th century.
This talk reframes the debate on world order for IR around a concept of order that acknowledges its political content. It considers various definitions of order in International Relations and shows how these deploy distinct relations with historical facts, scientific models, and policy goals. A political understanding of the idea of world order leads IR scholarship away from causal models and objectivist ontology, and as a result makes it easier to understand the long history of contestation around how world order should be made and who gets to make it.
We invite everyone interested to attend!