Iver B. Neumann

Security, ethnicity, nationalism

In this article, Neumann asks which aspects of ethnicity and nationalism that may be brought into sharper focus if we read these two phenomena with a view to how they have been shaped by security concerns. The first part of the article clears up some problems inherent in such exercises in diachronic concept analysis, and establishes the temporal area of validity for the analysis. The second part argues that the very emergence of the concept of ethnos (and its Roman translation, gens) was immersed in security thinking. It emerged as a way in which Greeks and Romans imposed order on what was outside that was not there before. Ethnic groups became ethnic by being interpellated by a stronger polity, and the process was driven first and foremost by security concerns. The third part illustrates this with a case study of the emergence of Slavic ethnicity. The fourth part of the article discusses how, with the advent of nationalism, there is an inversion. If ethnicity was imposed on subaltern groups, then European empires attempted to deny nationalism to such groups by insisting that they did not have the history to deserve it. Once again, security concerns played a key role, for as rightly seen by empires, nationhood could be an important anti-colonial resource. The paper ends by noting how nationalism invariably underlines the vitality of the Self, and juxtaposes it with the decrepitude of Others. With reference to present-day Russia, I note how the use of such organic metaphors in and of themselves securitize the relationship between nations, for the implication is that the old should disappear for the new to live, and that highlights security concerns on both sides of the relationship.

Power, Culture and situated research methodology. Autobiography,Field, Text

This book explores the extent to which our lives become an important underlying context for data production. Drawing on insights from Gestalt psychology, feminism and post-structuralism, it discusses how to situate yourself in the different phases of research.

Poststructuralists Also Have a Duty of Methodological Care

On Diplomacy (Der Derian, 1987) wasthe first attempt at bringing theory to the study of diplomacy, and it was a solid piece of empirical research. However, I will leave the celebration of these qualities to others, and concentrate on the question of methodology, where the book also has importance for the discipline as such. Methodology, Patrick Jackson (2011) tells us, is the way in which we get our data (the production of which may be by way of many different methods) to tell us something about what lies beyond that data. The area of validity, that is, the domain that the data are supposed to tell us something about, is in this case known Western history; not pre-history, traditionally defined as the period before writing, and not the future.

Russiske nasjonalister vs vestvendte siden Den kalde krigens slutt

Hegemonic-Order Theory: A Field-Theoretic Account

This article outlines a field-theoretic variation of hegemonic-order theory — one inspired primarily by the work of Pierre Bourdieu. We argue that hegemony derives from the possession of a plurality of meta-capital in world politics; hegemons exercise “a power over other species of power, and particularly over their rate of exchange.” Recasting conventional hegemonic-order theories along these lines carries with it at least three advantages: it helps bridge the differences between realist and neo-Gramscian approaches to hegemony; it provides scaffolding for exploring the workings of hegemony and hegemonic ordering across different scales; and it better addresses the fact that hegemonic powers are enabled and constrained by international order itself. After reviewing some of the major variants of hegemonic-order theory, we explore Bourdieu’s understanding of hegemony and cognate concepts. We then elaborate on our field-theoretic approach, with examples drawn from US foreign relations and the Roman Empire. Finally, we provide a longer illustrative sketch in the form of a discussion of Roman ordering and its longue durée influence on social, political, and cultural fields in world politics.

Russia’s Return as True Europe, 1991–2017

Since the reign of Peter the Great, Russia has identified itself in opposition to Europe. In the late 1980s, Michael Gorbachev and associates forged a liberal representation of Europe and initiated a Western-oriented foreign policy. Against this westernizing or liberal representation of Europe stood what was at first a makeshift group of old Communists and right-wing nationalists, who put forward an alternative representation that began to congeal around the idea that the quintessentially Russian trait was to have a strong state. This article traces how this latter position consolidated into a full-fledged xenophobic nationalist representation of Europe, which marginalized first other forms of nationalism and then, particularly since 2013, liberal representations of Europe. The official Russian stance is now that Russia itself is True Europe, a conservative great power that guards Europe’s true Christian heritage against the False Europe of decadence and depravity to its west.

Introduction

What is the role of memories for the expansion of international society? By drawing on the English School approach to International Relations this edited volume argues that the memories of empire and suzerainty are key to understanding sociological aspects of the expansion of anarchical society. The expert contributors adopt a socio-historic conceptualization of entry into international society, aiming to move beyond the legalist analysis, and also explore the impact of identity-constructions and collective memories on the expansion of international society. Empirically, the volume investigates the entry into international society of Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Romania and studies memories that they activated along the way. While these memoires of bygone polities were used by state builders to make sense of international society and legitimise claims of the new entrants, they inadvertently also generated tensions and anxieties, which in many ways persist until this day. Both the theoretical angle and the empirical material presented in this volume are novel additions to the growing body of knowledge in historical International Relations. Exploring how memories and experiences of the past still complicate the entrants’ positions in international society and to what degree ensuing tensions remain today, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European International Relations, particularly those with a focus on Eastern Europe.

Discourse Analysis

This handbook presents in a comprehensive, concise and accessible overview, the emerging field of international political sociology. It summarizes and synthesizes existing knowledge in the field while presenting central themes and methodologies that have been at the centre of its development, providing the reader with a sense of the diversity and research dynamics that are at the heart of international political sociology as a field of study. A wide range of topics covered include: International political sociology and its cognate disciplines and fields of study; Key themes including security, mobility, finance, development, gender, religion, health, global elites and the environment; Methodologies on how to engage with international political sociology including fieldwork, archives, discourse, ethnography, assemblage, materiality, social spaces and visuality; Current and future challenges of international political sociology addressed by three key scholars. Providing a synthetic reference point, summarizing key achievements and engagements while putting forward future developments and potential fruitful lines of inquiry, it is an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers from a range of disciplines, particularly international relations, political science, sociology, political geography, international law, international political economy, security studies and gender studies.

Frozen Moments: Visualizing the Polity in Times of Overheating

We are living in a new epoch: the Anthropocene, where the world is overheated by human activity, driven too fast and filled too full, uneven and unequal. This collection explores the question of identity in this new world, looking at the consequences of rapidly accelerating change on social and personal identities and providing a concrete set of perspectives on how people conceive their selves and belonging in the twenty-first century. Featuring examinations of the Phiippines, Israel, Australia, the Cape Verde Islands, and Afghanistan, the book studies changes generated by rapid industrialization, forced return of migrants, sudden population growth, and the touristification of local cultures.

Russia and The Idea of Europe: A Study in Identity and International Relations. Second revised and expanded edition

The end of the Soviet system and the transition to the market in Russia, coupled with the inexorable rise of nationalism, brought to the fore the centuries-old debate about Russia's relationship with Europe. In this revised and updated second edition of Russia and the Idea of Europe, Iver Neumann discusses whether the tensions between self-referencing nationalist views and Europe-orientated liberal views can ever be resolved. Drawing on a wide range of Russian sources, this book retains the broad historical focus of the previous edition and picks up from where the it off in the early 1990s, bringing the discussion fully up to date. Discussing theoretical and political developments, it relates the existing story of Russian identity formation to new foreign policy analysis and the developments in the study of nationalism. The book also offers an additional focus on post-Cold War developments. In particular it examines the year 2000, when Putin succeeded Yeltsin as president, and 2014, when Russian foreign policy turned from cooperation to confrontation. Bringing to life the various debates surrounding this complicated relationship in an accessible and clear manner, this book continues to be a unique and vital resource for both students and scholars of international relations.