Critical International Relations

Critical approaches to International Relations are now central to both current scholarship and contemporary teaching. Indeed, in the last decade or so, serious work that embraces traditions including, among others, the postcolonial, poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist, deconstructive, genealogical, and interpretive, has moved decisively from the periphery to centre stage. Moreover, Critical International Relations increasingly draws on critical approaches in other disciplines, such as Human Geography, Literary Studies, Performance Studies and the visual arts, as well as Critical Historiography and Critical Legal Studies.

To help users navigate and make sense of such an enormous, growing—and ever more complex—corpus of scholarship, Routledge is pleased to announce this new four-volume collection edited by Jenny Edkins. Critical International Relations answers the need for a one-stop reference resource to enable scholars and students readily to acquaint themselves with key themes and contributions that typify the use of critical approaches to International Relations in diverse temporal and geographical locations.

Much more than a historical survey of the field, or a simple assembly of works that may be regarded as ‘canonical’, the editor has brought together an innovative compilation of materials to reflect the vibrancy and excitement of Critical International Relations. And, in addition to those relatively new to the field who will especially benefit from this enterprise, the collection will also be welcomed by established researchers from across the disciplinary spectrum who are currently engaged in critical work on topics related to International Relations.

Volume I sets the scene. The materials gathered here trace how the space for a Critical International Relations was opened by early scholars; the theoretical and philosophical resources on which the field draws; and the methods and methodology it employs. Volumes II and III, meanwhile, bring together the major works by scholars of Critical International Relations, and those from cognate disciplines. The selections exemplify the approach, demonstrate the significance and specificity of Critical International Relations, and show how its assumptions and methods translate in practice into challenging and highly policy-relevant outputs. Finally, Volume IV includes sections on questions of pedagogy, interdisciplinarity, and the responsibility of scholars in relation to the growing dominance of Critical International Relations.

The collection is supplemented with a full index, and also includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor. It will be appreciated by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital reference and pedagogic resource.

Edited and with a new introduction by Jenny Edkins, Aberystwyth University