Understanding the category of power in post-modern thought Cover Image

ROZUMIENIE KATEGORII POWER (POTĘGI, SIŁY, WŁADZY) W MYŚLI PONOWOCZESNEJ
Understanding the category of power in post-modern thought

Author(s): Anna Wojciuk
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: polityka międzynarodowa; epoka poindustrialna; Michael Hardt; Antonio Negri; dyskurs; Foucault; Hobbes; Pierre Bourdieu; ponowoczesna filozofia polityczna

Summary/Abstract: This text examines the postmodern approach to the notion of power in international relations. The article assumes that the postmodern trends in international relations studies do not fully and explicitly explain what power really is for postmodern refl ection on international relations. Therefore, in order to understand the notion and the debate at stake one has to refer to contemporary political philosophy which is the source of the concept. The text discusses what postmodern thought is, what makes it a distinct intellectual phenomenon and why postmodern thought is important for international relations studies. Essentially, the article consists of a thorough exploration of power as understood by Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Chantal Mouffe, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The text aims to show the evolution of the notion and its analytical usefulness to international relations studies. Thus, the portrait of power within each of the philosophical approaches, examined in a sympathetic way, is accompanied by numerous short case studies and examples from both contemporary foreign affairs and from the history of international relations

  • Issue Year: 39/2009
  • Issue No: 1-2
  • Page Range: 49-71
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Polish