Richard Devetak | The University of Queensland, Australia (original) (raw)

Journal Articles by Richard Devetak

Research paper thumbnail of The Critical Theorist's Labour: Empirical or Philosophical Historiography for International Relations?

Robert Cox developed a potent approach to studying world orders that is premised on the capacitie... more Robert Cox developed a potent approach to studying world orders that is premised on the capacities of a special intellectual, the critical theorist, to discern social structures and the possibilities for their radical change in the future. While acknowledging the ethical appeal of adopting this intellectual persona, in this paper we are concerned with the style of historiography that it requires. In particular, we argue that the imperative to discover and foster the beginnings of social change leads to a version of philosophical history that will likely produce systematic anachronism. This is not uncommon in the discipline of International Relations, but in the case of Cox it stands in tension with some of his avowed intellectual sources, especially the work of Giambattista Vico, and with the aim of providing critical historical perspective on the present. We argue that Vico stands as an example of an alternative historical-empirical line of research that would better serve Coxian ambitions.

Research paper thumbnail of Bandung 60 years on: revolt and resilience in international society

This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate chal... more This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate challenges such as the mid twentieth century ‘revolt against the West’ and the twenty-first-century rise of new (especially non-Western) great powers. The Bandung conference of 1955 has commonly been seen as posing a threat to the fabric of international society by proliferating cultural and political differences. The authors show, on the contrary, that the political project of anti-colonialism and peaceful coexistence expressed at Bandung was actually consistent with a pluralist conception of international society, even if Western powers and intellectuals at the time failed to notice. The non-Western countries represented at Bandung were intent on expunging international society of the structures and practices of racism and colonialism so as to strengthen the foundations of a pluralistic international society better able to accommodate cultural and political differences.

Research paper thumbnail of Justice Unbound? Globalization, States and the Transformation of the Social Bond

Research paper thumbnail of Between Kant and Pufendorf: Humanitarian Intervention, Statist Anti-Cosmopolitanism and Critical International Theory

Research paper thumbnail of Foucault, Discipline and Raison d’État in Early Modern Europe

International Political Sociology, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of The Gothic scene of international relations: ghosts, monsters, terror and the sublime after September 11

Review of International Studies, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Waltz, the state of international relations, and theoretical abstraction: Contextualising a legacy

Research paper thumbnail of Theories, practices and postmodernism in international relations 1

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of The Project of Modernity and International Relations Theory

Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of An Australian Outlook on International Affairs? The Evolution of International Relations Theory in Australia

Australian Journal of Politics & History, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of After the event: Don DeLillo's White Noise and September 11 narratives

Review of International Studies, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of In fear of refugees: the politics of Border Protection in Australia

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of A Rival Enlightenment? Critical International Theory in Historical Mode

International Theory, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Historiographical Foundations of Modern International Thought: Histories of the European States-System from Florence to Göttingen

History of European Ideas, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Law of Nations as Reason of State: Diplomacy and the Balance of Power in Vattel's Law of Nations

Research paper thumbnail of The Moralization of International Politics: Humanitarian Intervention and its Critics

Research paper thumbnail of Histories and crises: modern, global, natural and social

Global Change, Peace & Security, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The three traditions in history: a dialogic text

Book Chapters by Richard Devetak

Research paper thumbnail of Marxism and Critical Theory

Research paper thumbnail of An Introduction to International Relations: The Origins and Changing Agendas of a Discipline

Research paper thumbnail of The Critical Theorist's Labour: Empirical or Philosophical Historiography for International Relations?

Robert Cox developed a potent approach to studying world orders that is premised on the capacitie... more Robert Cox developed a potent approach to studying world orders that is premised on the capacities of a special intellectual, the critical theorist, to discern social structures and the possibilities for their radical change in the future. While acknowledging the ethical appeal of adopting this intellectual persona, in this paper we are concerned with the style of historiography that it requires. In particular, we argue that the imperative to discover and foster the beginnings of social change leads to a version of philosophical history that will likely produce systematic anachronism. This is not uncommon in the discipline of International Relations, but in the case of Cox it stands in tension with some of his avowed intellectual sources, especially the work of Giambattista Vico, and with the aim of providing critical historical perspective on the present. We argue that Vico stands as an example of an alternative historical-empirical line of research that would better serve Coxian ambitions.

Research paper thumbnail of Bandung 60 years on: revolt and resilience in international society

This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate chal... more This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate challenges such as the mid twentieth century ‘revolt against the West’ and the twenty-first-century rise of new (especially non-Western) great powers. The Bandung conference of 1955 has commonly been seen as posing a threat to the fabric of international society by proliferating cultural and political differences. The authors show, on the contrary, that the political project of anti-colonialism and peaceful coexistence expressed at Bandung was actually consistent with a pluralist conception of international society, even if Western powers and intellectuals at the time failed to notice. The non-Western countries represented at Bandung were intent on expunging international society of the structures and practices of racism and colonialism so as to strengthen the foundations of a pluralistic international society better able to accommodate cultural and political differences.

Research paper thumbnail of Justice Unbound? Globalization, States and the Transformation of the Social Bond

Research paper thumbnail of Between Kant and Pufendorf: Humanitarian Intervention, Statist Anti-Cosmopolitanism and Critical International Theory

Research paper thumbnail of Foucault, Discipline and Raison d’État in Early Modern Europe

International Political Sociology, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of The Gothic scene of international relations: ghosts, monsters, terror and the sublime after September 11

Review of International Studies, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Waltz, the state of international relations, and theoretical abstraction: Contextualising a legacy

Research paper thumbnail of Theories, practices and postmodernism in international relations 1

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of The Project of Modernity and International Relations Theory

Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of An Australian Outlook on International Affairs? The Evolution of International Relations Theory in Australia

Australian Journal of Politics & History, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of After the event: Don DeLillo's White Noise and September 11 narratives

Review of International Studies, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of In fear of refugees: the politics of Border Protection in Australia

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of A Rival Enlightenment? Critical International Theory in Historical Mode

International Theory, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Historiographical Foundations of Modern International Thought: Histories of the European States-System from Florence to Göttingen

History of European Ideas, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Law of Nations as Reason of State: Diplomacy and the Balance of Power in Vattel's Law of Nations

Research paper thumbnail of The Moralization of International Politics: Humanitarian Intervention and its Critics

Research paper thumbnail of Histories and crises: modern, global, natural and social

Global Change, Peace & Security, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The three traditions in history: a dialogic text

Research paper thumbnail of Marxism and Critical Theory

Research paper thumbnail of An Introduction to International Relations: The Origins and Changing Agendas of a Discipline

Research paper thumbnail of The Modern State

Research paper thumbnail of Foundationalism/anti-foundationalism

Research paper thumbnail of Signs of a new enlightenment? Community and humanity after the Cold War

Research paper thumbnail of Postmodernism

Research paper thumbnail of Failures, rogues and terrorists: states of exception and the North/South divide

Security and the War on Terror, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Globalization's Shadow: An introduction to the globalization of political violence

Research paper thumbnail of Violence, Order, and Terror

International Society and its Critics, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Post-structuralism

Research paper thumbnail of Failed States, Rogue States and the Sources of Terrorism: How the North Views the South

Ethics of War in a Time of Terror, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Saving the Social Bond and Recovering the Public Domain

Research paper thumbnail of Incomplete states: theories and practices of statecraft

Boundaries in Question: New Directions in International Relations, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of Critical theory

Research paper thumbnail of Loyalty and plurality

Research paper thumbnail of The fear of universal monarchy': balance of power as an ordering practice of liberty

Research paper thumbnail of Obligations beyond the state: Andrew Linklater's' Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations

Classics of International Relations: Essays in Criticism and Appreciation, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Vico contra Kant: the competing critical theories of Cox and Linklater

Research paper thumbnail of International Relations Theory (in Australia)

Research paper thumbnail of Hugo Grotius

Research paper thumbnail of The globalization of political violence: globalization's shadow

This edited volume offers important new methodological and multidisciplinary insights into the st... more This edited volume offers important new methodological and multidisciplinary insights into the study of globalization and political violence. It brings together studies from various disciplines in order to address the precise nature of the relationship between globalization and political violence as it seeks to offer new theoretical and empirical understandings of the types of actors involved in political violence, either as perpetrators or victims. Examples of the studies include the changing character of state militaries and state-to-state conflict under globalization, the emergence of 'new wars' fuelled by globalization, the role of state militaries in intervention, new forms of violence directed by states against refugees and anti-globalization protesters, the role of terrorist actors post 9/11, networks for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the rise of private military firms amongst others.

Research paper thumbnail of Vattel’s Reception in International Relations

Concepts and Contexts of Vattel's Political and Legal Thought

Research paper thumbnail of Reason of State in European International Thought

Research paper thumbnail of From historicizing to provincializing the global

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Civilising statecraft: Andrew Linklater and comparative sociologies of states-systems

Review of International Studies, 2017

In this contribution to the forum marking the publication of Andrew Linklater’s remarkable book o... more In this contribution to the forum marking the publication of Andrew Linklater’s remarkable book on Violence and Civilization in the Western States-Systems we first locate the book in the context of Linklater’s overarching intellectual journey. While best known for his contribution to a critical international theory, it is through his engagement with Martin Wight’s comparative sociology of states-systems that Linklater found resonances with the work of process sociologist, Norbert Elias. Integrating Wight’s insights into the states-system with Elias’s insights into civilising processes, Violence and Civilization presents a high-level theoretical synthesis with the aim of historically tracing restraints on violence. The article identifies a tension between the cosmopolitan philosophical history which underpins the argument of the book, and which has underpinned all Linklater’s previous works, and the ‘Utrecht Enlightenment’ that offers a conception of ‘civilized statecraft’ at odds wi...

Research paper thumbnail of Bandung 60 years on: revolt and resilience in international society

Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2016

ABSTRACT This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommo... more ABSTRACT This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate challenges such as the mid twentieth-century ‘revolt against the West’ and the twenty-first-century rise of new (especially non-Western) great powers. The Bandung conference of 1955 has commonly been seen as posing a threat to the fabric of international society by proliferating cultural and political differences. The authors show, on the contrary, that the political project of anti-colonialism and peaceful coexistence expressed at Bandung was actually consistent with a pluralist conception of international society, even if Western powers and intellectuals at the time failed to notice. The non-Western countries represented at Bandung were intent on expunging international society of the structures and practices of racism and colonialism so as to strengthen the foundations of a pluralistic international society better able to accommodate cultural and political differences.

Research paper thumbnail of Barry Buzan: An Introduction to the English School: The Societal Approach. (Cambridge: Polity, 2014. Pp. ix, 230.)

The Review of Politics, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Saving the Social Bond and Recovering the Public Domain

Research paper thumbnail of Bandung 60 years on: revolt and resilience in international society

Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2016

This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate chal... more This article examines the extent to which international society has been able to accommodate challenges such as the mid twentieth century ‘revolt against the West’ and the twenty-first-century rise of new (especially non-Western) great powers. The Bandung conference of 1955 has commonly been seen as posing a threat to the fabric of international society by proliferating cultural and political differences. The authors show, on the contrary, that the political project of anti-colonialism and peaceful coexistence expressed at Bandung was actually consistent with a pluralist conception of international society, even if Western powers and intellectuals at the time failed to notice. The non-Western countries represented at Bandung were intent on expunging international society of the structures and practices of racism and colonialism so as to strengthen the foundations of a pluralistic international society better able to accommodate cultural and political differences.

Research paper thumbnail of From Machiavelli to Kant: a genealogy of the international

Research paper thumbnail of Order