Abstract
The categories "western peoples" and "inferior races" to which the above quotation refers have undergone several transformations over the past century. Just as these categories were once accepted as natural, the contemporary categories of "first world/third world," "core/periphery," "developed/underdeveloped," "modern/traditional," and "North/South" are widely regarded in international relations as neutral and unproblematic. They function as a pre-conceptual frame within which relations among countries so classified can be analyzed. This is true of a variety of approaches that differ radically in other ways, yet share these same classificatory schemes. The approach taken in this study suggests that relations among countries classified as "North/South" and among peoples previously classified as "Western peoples" and "inferior races" have functioned as occasions for the construction of identities. Identities, in this study, are not presumed to exist prior to the discursive practices surrounding particular issues. Rather, various issues have provided the contexts within which identities have been constructed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Post-Realism |
Subtitle of host publication | The rhetorical turn in international relations |
Publisher | Michigan State University Press |
Pages | 331-345 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780870134616 |
State | Published - 2012 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences