Colás, Alejandro (2022) IR's sea sickness: a materialist diagnosis. In: de Carvalho, B. and Leira, H. (eds.) The Sea and International Relations. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526155108. (In Press)
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Abstract
This paper adopts a materialist understanding of nature, suggesting the ‘malaise’ of the discipline when it comes to the maritime factor in International Relations lies in the lack of attention to the terraqueous predicament of our planet. It elaborates on the implications of such an approach with reference to temporal and spatial aspects of modern international relations. Understanding the global ocean as a dynamic, living force in constant and changing interaction with terrestrial power can deliver deeper and richer interpretations of international relations, including conflicts like those in the contemporary South China Sea. Book synopsis: While the world's oceans cover more than seventy percent of its surface, the sea has largely vanished as an object of enquiry in International Relations (IR), being treated either as a corollary of land or as time. Yet, the sea is the quintessential international space, and its importance to global politics has become all the more obvious in recent years. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from IR, Historical Sociology, Blue Humanities and Critical Ocean Studies, The sea and International Relations breaks with this trend of oceanic amnesia, and kickstarts a theoretical, conceptual and empirical discussion about the sea and IR, by highlighting theoretical puzzles, analysing broad historical perspectives and addressing contemporary challenges. In bringing the sea back into IR, the book reconceptualises the canvas of international relations to include the oceans as a social, political, economic and military space which affects the workings of world politics.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Alex Colas |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Feb 2022 16:34 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Oct 2023 00:10 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/41370 |
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