Abstract
This article argues that International Relations (IR) theory has much to learn from African experiences and African scholarship. The African context provides novel political, cultural, social and economic experiences and knowledge that can and should inform IR theory and encourage its further development. This article outlines how African experiences can be incorporated into IR theory as insights or contributions by African scholars (working both within Africa and beyond), insights or contributions by non-African scholars working on Africa and insights gleaned from a close interpretation of African experiences. It demonstrates how scholars can use African experiences to revise, innovate and better inform existing IR theory.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the South African National Research Foundation's Thuthuka programme for providing the funds which enabled her to do this research.
Notes
1. From a panel discussion by the same name held at the Frankfurt book fair, 11 October 2007.
3. The issue of constraints was explored in a previous paper (see Smith and van der Westhuizen, Citation2005) and will therefore not be the focus here.
4. In his reflection on V. Y. Mudimbe's The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge, Jacob Carruthers claims that “the revival of African thought is a job for Africans only; that is only Africans can do it. If Europeans do it, it would only mean that they defeated us again” (Citation1996, p. 9).
5. Scholars such as Hardt and Negri (Citation2000), Lipschutz and Rowe (Citation2005), and Merlingen (Citation2007) have applied Foucault's governmentality approach to the issue of globalisation and ‘empire’. In exploring the phenomenon of persuasion, Lebow (Citation2005) and Hassdorf (Citation2005) draw on Greek philosophy and the work of the French sociologist Bourdieu, respectively. Guzzini (Citation2002) also reflects on Bourdieu, while Hobden and Hobson (Citation2002) look at what they call the Historical Sociology of International Relations. Perhaps the most well-known example of a sociology-influenced study of IR is Wendt's (Citation1999) A Social Theory of International Relations. Beitz (Citation1999) and Walker (Citation1992) both look at the link between political theory and IR, while Bleiker (Citation2000; Citation2001b) turns to literature in what he calls the “aesthetic turn in International Political Theory”. Significantly, the journal Global Society: Journal of Interdisciplinary International Relations sets out to promote a cross-fertilisation between IR and other fields, in order to address the deficits of existing IR knowledge.
6. Thank you to Tim Shaw for pointing this out.
7. For a discussion of the advantages of interdisciplinarity, see Nissani (Citation1997).
8. Thank you to Scarlett Cornelissen for pointing this out.
11. For further discussion of the relationship between the domestic and the international, see, for example, Bueno de Mesquita (Citation2002) and Fearon (Citation1998).
Neuman
,
S. G.
1998
.
“
International relations theory and the Third World: an oxymoron?
”
. In
International Relations Theory and the Third World
,
Edited by:
Neuman
,
S. G.
1
–
29
.
Basingstoke
:
Macmillan
.
Dunn
K.
C.
Shaw
T.
M.
Africa's Challenge to International Relations Theory
Palgrave
Basingstoke
2001
Aydinli
,
E.
and
Mathews
,
J.
2000
.
Are the core and periphery irreconcilable? The curious world of publishing in contemporary international relations
.
International Studies Perspectives
,
1
:
289
–
303
.
Thomas
,
C.
and
Wilkin
,
P.
2004
.
Still waiting after all these years: ‘the Third World’ on the periphery of international relations
.
British Journal of Politics and International Relations
,
6
:
241
–
258
.
Nkiwane
,
T. C.
2001a
.
Africa and international relations: regional lessons for a global discourse
.
International Political Science Review
,
22
(
3
)
:
279
–
290
.
Lavelle
,
K. C.
2005
.
Moving in from the periphery: Africa and the study of international political economy
.
Review of International Political Economy
,
12
(
2
)
:
364
–
379
.
La Monica
,
C.
2007
.
African political thought and international relations: challenges and prospects
.
Australasian Review of African Studies
,
28
:
34
–
73
.
Smith
,
K.
and
van der Westhuizen
,
J.
Developing IR theory in the South: obstacles to challenging northern dominance
.
paper presented at the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference
.
December
19–21
,
St Andrews.
Hardt
,
M.
and
Negri
,
A.
2000
.
Empire
,
Cambridge, MA
:
Harvard University Press
.
Lipschutz
,
R.
and
Rowe
,
J. K.
2005
.
Globalization, Governmentality, and Global Politics
,
New York
:
Routledge
.
Merlingen
,
M.
2007
.
Foucault and world politics. Promises and challenges of extending governmentality theory to the European and beyond
.
Millennium
,
35
(
2
)
:
181
–
196
.
Lebow
,
R. N.
2005
.
Power, persuasion and justice
.
Millennium
,
33
(
3
)
:
551
–
581
.
Hassdorf
,
W.
2005
.
Emperor without clothes
.
Millennium
,
33
(
3
)
:
691
–
722
.
Guzzini
,
S.
2002
.
Do we really need reflexivity in IPE? Bourdieu's two reasons for answering affirmatively
.
Review of International Political Economy
,
9
(
4
)
:
601
–
609
.
Hobden
,
S.
and
Hobson
,
J.
2002
.
Historical Sociology of International Relations
,
Cambridge
:
Cambridge University Press
.
Wendt
,
A.
1999
.
Social Theory of International Politics
,
Cambridge
:
Cambridge University Press
.
Beitz
,
C. R.
1999
.
Political Theory and International Relations
,
Princeton, NJ
:
Princeton University Press
.
Walker
,
R. B. J.
1992
.
Inside/Outside: International Relations as Political Theory
,
Cambridge
:
Cambridge University Press
.
Bleiker
,
R.
2000
.
Editor's introduction to special issue: poetic world politics
.
Alternatives
,
25
(
3
)
:
269
–
285
.
Bleiker
,
R.
2001b
.
The aesthetic turn in international political theory: introduction to special issue: images and narratives in world politics
.
Millennium: Journal of International Studies
,
30
(
3
)
:
503
–
533
.
Nissani
,
M.
1997
.
Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity: the case for interdisciplinary knowledge and research
.
The Social Science Journal
,
34
(
2
)
:
201
–
216
.
Dunn
K.
C.
Shaw
T.
M.
Africa's Challenge to International Relations Theory
Palgrave
Basingstoke
2001
Neuman
,
S. G.
1998
.
“
International relations theory and the Third World: an oxymoron?
”
. In
International Relations Theory and the Third World
,
Edited by:
Neuman
,
S. G.
1
–
29
.
Basingstoke
:
Macmillan
.
Enloe
,
C.
2000
.
Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives
,
Berkeley, CA
:
University of California Press
.
Hooper
,
C.
2001
.
Manly States: Masculinities, International Relations, and Gender Politics
,
New York
:
Columbia University Press
.
Peterson
,
V. S.
1992
.
Gendered States: Feminist (Re)Visions of International Relations
,
Boulder, CO
:
Lynne Rienner
.
Sylvester
,
C.
2002
.
Feminist International Relations: An Unfinished Journey
,
Cambridge
:
Cambridge University Press
.
Tickner
,
A.
1997
.
You just don't understand: troubled engagements between feminists and IR theorists
.
International Studies Quarterly
,
41
:
611
–
632
.
Bueno de Mesquita
,
B.
2002
.
Domestic politics and international relations
.
International Studies Quarterly
,
46
(
1
)
:
1
–
9
.
Fearon
,
J. D.
1998
.
Domestic politics, foreign policy, and theories of international relations
.
Annual Review of Political Science
,
1
:
289
–
313
.
Bach
,
D.
1999
.
Regionalisation in Africa
,
Oxford, Bloomington and Indianapolis
:
James Curry and Indiana University Press
.
Söderbaum
F.
Taylor
I.
Regionalism and Uneven Development in Southern Africa
Ashgate
London
2003
Söderbaum
F.
Taylor
I.
Regionalism and Uneven Development in Southern Africa
Ashgate
London
2003