Colonialism and imperialism in the quest for a universalist Korean-style international relations theory

Abstract

This article aims to conduct a critical appraisal of two major discourses in South Korea on how to construct its national school of international relations (IR) in the global academic field. This article argues that South Korean IR academia's recent quest for an independent, self-reliant national school of IR with universal applicability still appears to be operating under a colonial mentality, either treating Korea as a mere test bed for mainstream rationalist IR approaches or mimicking the character of hegemonic IR theory, thereby reaffirming it. The normative consequences of seeking to promote a national rival to dominant theorizing provide an interesting case study on the sometimes hidden politics of IR scholarship.

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Corrigendum

Notes

1 I really appreciate this point suggested by Cambridge Review of International Affairs' anonymous reviewer.

2 I am grateful to Cambridge Review of International Affairs' anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

3 I thank Cambridge Review of International Affairs' anonymous reviewer for this insightful point.

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Notes on contributors

Young Chul Cho

Young Chul Cho is Associate Professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs of O.P. Jindal Global University, India. He is currently interested in IR theory/scholarship, social research methods, critical geopolitics, East Asia, and South Asia. His essays have appeared in Pacific Focus, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Korea Observer, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, East Asia: An International Quarterly, among others. The author of this article is grateful to William A. Callahan, Kosuke Shimizu, Ching-Chang Chen, Josuke Ikeda, Shiro Sato, Giorgio Shani, Ayse Zarakol, Hiroyuki Tosa, Rieko Karatani, Takashi Inoguchi, Navnita Chadha Behera, Ihn-hwi Park, Young-ho Park for their constructive comments and persistent encouragement. This research was supported by the Global COE Program ‘In Search for Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa’, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. [email protected]