Milja Kurki – författare

Unrivalled coverage of IR theories from leading experts, including historically dominant traditions such as realism, and liberalism, to theories such as postcolonialism and green theory. Featuring a new organisation to reflect the importance and focus on global IR as well as newly authored chapters on classical realism, liberalism, Marxism, and critical theories. A wide range of case studies show readers how theory can be applied to address concrete political problems. Key Features:· Expert line-up of contributors offer coverage of dominant and emerging theories and arguments from diverse perspectives· Includes coverage of historically marginalised theories, including postcolonialism and environmentalism· A case study in each chapter shows how theory can be used to explain real-world problems and dilemmas and additional questions to encourage students to analyse and evaluate the different theories for themselves· Boxes highlighting key books or articles introduce students to prominent works in the field to encourage wider reading and research interests· Spotlights on key books and articles encourage readers to go beyond the textbook and develop their research interests, exploring important works in the fieldNew to this Edition:· An enhanced ebook with author videos, self-test questions, and pointers to answering case study questions· Newly authored chapters on classical realism, liberalism, and Marxism provide students with fresh perspectives on these theories· Newly authored chapter on critical theories illustrates the intersectional nature of critical theories as it relates to gender, race, and decolonisation, while speaking to topical debates in the field· The global IR chapter has been moved to the beginning of the text, which encourages students to critically reflect on the context in which IR developed and appreciate the importance of viewing international relations theories from truly representative perspectives from the very start· Updated online resources include pointers on answering case study questions, supporting students to apply theories to real world issuesDigital Formats and Resources:International Relations Theories is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supportedby online resources.The enhanced e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with self-test multiple choice questions, functionality tools,navigation features, and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks The digital version, available on Politics Trove, is also accompanied by online resources.These include:For students:- Self-test questions for every section of the chapter, to help you test your knowledge as you go- Author videos explaining concepts or going into greater depth into a case study- Pointers on answering the case study questionsFor lecturers:- Test Bank for each chapter- PowerPoint slides with a deck for each chapter to help build lecture materials

It is time for International Relations (IR) to join the relational revolution afoot in the natural and social sciences. To do so, more careful reflection is needed on cosmological assumptions in the sciences and also in the study and practice of international relations. In particular it is argued here that we need to pay careful attention to whether and how we think 'relationally'. Building a conversation between relational cosmology, developed in natural sciences, and critical social theory, this book seeks to develop a new perspective on how to think relationally in and around the study of IR.International Relations in a Relational Universe asks: What kind of cosmological background assumptions do we make as we tackle international relations today and where do our assumptions (about states, individuals, or the international) come from? And can we reorient our cosmological imaginations towards more relational understanding of the universe and what would this mean for the study and practice of international politics?The book argues that we live in a world without 'things', a world of processes and relations. It also suggests that we live in relations which exceed the boundaries of the human and the social, in planetary relations with plants and animals. Rethinking conceptual premises of IR, Kurki points towards a 'planetary politics' perspective within which we can reimagine IR as a field of study and also political practices, including the future of democracy.

This volume takes up the idea of ‘multiplicity’ as a new common ground for international theory, bringing together 10 scholars to reflect on the implications of societal multiplicity for areas as diverse as nationalism, ecology, architecture, monetary systems, cosmology and the history of political ideas. International relations (IR), it is often said, has contributed no big ideas to the interdisciplinary conversation of the social sciences and humanities. Yet this is an unnecessary silence, for IR uniquely addresses a fundamental fact about the human world: its division into a multiplicity of interacting social formations. This feature is full of consequences for the very nature of societies and for social phenomena of all kinds. And in recent years a research programme has emerged within IR to theorise these ‘consequences of multiplicity’ and to trace how the effects of the international dimension extend into other fields of social life. This book is a powerful indication of the contribution that IR may yet make to the human disciplines.The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Globalizations.

This volume takes up the idea of ‘multiplicity’ as a new common ground for international theory, bringing together 10 scholars to reflect on the implications of societal multiplicity for areas as diverse as nationalism, ecology, architecture, monetary systems, cosmology and the history of political ideas. International relations (IR), it is often said, has contributed no big ideas to the interdisciplinary conversation of the social sciences and humanities. Yet this is an unnecessary silence, for IR uniquely addresses a fundamental fact about the human world: its division into a multiplicity of interacting social formations. This feature is full of consequences for the very nature of societies and for social phenomena of all kinds. And in recent years a research programme has emerged within IR to theorise these ‘consequences of multiplicity’ and to trace how the effects of the international dimension extend into other fields of social life. This book is a powerful indication of the contribution that IR may yet make to the human disciplines.The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Globalizations.

How do different meanings of the concept of ‘democracy’ operate in democracy promotion? How do conceptual decisions influence real political events? How is policy and reflection on democracy promotion shaped by the way different practitioners and scholars understand democracy?The Conceptual Politics of Democracy Promotion explores the way in which the meaning, content and context of ‘democracy’ are interpreted by different actors in democracy promotion, and how these influence political decisions. Introducing a theoretically new approach to the study of democracy promotion, the volume shows how the alternate ways that democracy can be understood reflects specific interpretations of political and normative ideals, as well as being closely tied to social power relations, interests, and struggles between political actors. With original contributions from some of the most prominent specialists on democracy promotion and democratization, the book examines a number of concrete cases of democracy promotion and contestation over democracy’s meaning. Re-examining democracy promotion at its time of crisis, this book will be of interest scholars and students of democracy and democratization, politics and international relations, international law, development studies and political theory.

Democracy promotion has been an influential policy agenda in many Western states and international organisations, and amongst many NGO actors. But what kinds of models of democracy do democracy promoters promote? This book examines in detail the conceptual orders that underpin democracy support activity, and the conceptions of democracy that democracy promoters, consciously or inadvertently, work with. Such an examination is not only timely but much-needed in today’s context of multiple democratic and financial crises. Contestation over democracy’s meaning is returning, but how is this contestation reflected, if at all, in democracy promotion policies and practices?Seeking to open up debate on multiple models of democracy, this text provides the reader not only with the outlines of various possible politico-economic models of democracy, but also with a close empirical engagement with democracy promoters’ discourses and practices. Drawing on a broad spectrum of examples, it exposes the challenges faced by Western governments in trying to reshape the political and economic landscape across the world and tentatively advances a set of concrete policy provocations which may enable a more pluralist and flexible democracy promotion practice to emerge.This innovative new work will be essential reading for all students of democratisation, democracy promotion and international relations.

Democracy promotion has been an influential policy agenda in many Western states and international organisations, and amongst many NGO actors. But what kinds of models of democracy do democracy promoters promote? This book examines in detail the conceptual orders that underpin democracy support activity, and the conceptions of democracy that democracy promoters, consciously or inadvertently, work with. Such an examination is not only timely but much-needed in today’s context of multiple democratic and financial crises. Contestation over democracy’s meaning is returning, but how is this contestation reflected, if at all, in democracy promotion policies and practices?Seeking to open up debate on multiple models of democracy, this text provides the reader not only with the outlines of various possible politico-economic models of democracy, but also with a close empirical engagement with democracy promoters’ discourses and practices. Drawing on a broad spectrum of examples, it exposes the challenges faced by Western governments in trying to reshape the political and economic landscape across the world and tentatively advances a set of concrete policy provocations which may enable a more pluralist and flexible democracy promotion practice to emerge.This innovative new work will be essential reading for all students of democratisation, democracy promotion and international relations.

This critical introduction to democracy promotion seeks to provide students with an understanding of some of the key dynamics and contentions revolving around this controversial policy agenda.Specifically, this textbook examines democracy promotion through seeking to answer, from the perspective of an approach informed by ‘critical theory’, a set of important questions often posed to democracy promoters, such as: Who is involved in democracy promotion today and what kinds of power relations are embedded in it? Is democracy promotion driven by the values or interests of key actors? Is democracy promotion regime-change by another name? Is democracy promotion ‘context-sensitive’ or an imposition of Western powers? Is democracy promotion about achieving liberal economic reform in target states? Is democracy promotion a tool of the powerful, a form of hegemonic control of target populations?The book suggests a set of provocative answers to these questions and also puts forward a set of challenges for democracy promoters and supporters to take on today.Democracy Promotion serves as an effective introduction to an increasingly topical policy agenda for students and general readers and, at the same time, seeks to advance an important set of new critical perspectives for practitioners and policy-makers of democracy promotion to consider.

This critical introduction to democracy promotion seeks to provide students with an understanding of some of the key dynamics and contentions revolving around this controversial policy agenda.Specifically, this textbook examines democracy promotion through seeking to answer, from the perspective of an approach informed by ‘critical theory’, a set of important questions often posed to democracy promoters, such as: Who is involved in democracy promotion today and what kinds of power relations are embedded in it? Is democracy promotion driven by the values or interests of key actors? Is democracy promotion regime-change by another name? Is democracy promotion ‘context-sensitive’ or an imposition of Western powers? Is democracy promotion about achieving liberal economic reform in target states? Is democracy promotion a tool of the powerful, a form of hegemonic control of target populations?The book suggests a set of provocative answers to these questions and also puts forward a set of challenges for democracy promoters and supporters to take on today.Democracy Promotion serves as an effective introduction to an increasingly topical policy agenda for students and general readers and, at the same time, seeks to advance an important set of new critical perspectives for practitioners and policy-makers of democracy promotion to consider.

World political processes, such as wars and globalisation, are engendered by complex sets of causes and conditions. Although the idea of causation is fundamental to the field of International Relations, what the concept of cause means or entails has remained an unresolved and contested matter. In recent decades ferocious debates have surrounded the idea of causal analysis, some scholars even questioning the legitimacy of applying the notion of cause in the study of International Relations. This book suggests that underlying the debates on causation in the field of International Relations is a set of problematic assumptions (deterministic, mechanistic and empiricist) and that we should reclaim causal analysis from the dominant discourse of causation. Milja Kurki argues that reinterpreting the meaning, aims and methods of social scientific causal analysis opens up multi-causal and methodologically pluralist avenues for future International Relations scholarship.

World political processes, such as wars and globalisation, are engendered by complex sets of causes and conditions. Although the idea of causation is fundamental to the field of International Relations, what the concept of cause means or entails has remained an unresolved and contested matter. In recent decades ferocious debates have surrounded the idea of causal analysis, some scholars even questioning the legitimacy of applying the notion of cause in the study of International Relations. This book suggests that underlying the debates on causation in the field of International Relations is a set of problematic assumptions (deterministic, mechanistic and empiricist) and that we should reclaim causal analysis from the dominant discourse of causation. Milja Kurki argues that reinterpreting the meaning, aims and methods of social scientific causal analysis opens up multi-causal and methodologically pluralist avenues for future International Relations scholarship.