Metaphors in International Relations Theory PDF
Preview Metaphors in International Relations Theory
Metaphors in International Relations Theory AlsobyMichaelP.Marks TheFormationofEuropeanPolicyinPost-FrancoSpain:TheRoleofIdeas, InterestsandKnowledge ThePrisonasMetaphor:Re-ImaginingInternationalRelations Metaphors in International Relations Theory Michael P. Marks METAPHORSININTERNATIONALRELATIONSTHEORY Copyright©MichaelP.Marks,2011. Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2011 978-0-230-11321-3 Allrightsreserved. Firstpublishedin2011by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN® intheUnitedStates—adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestofthe World,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998, ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN978-1-349-29493-0 ISBN978-0-230-33918-7(eBook) DOI10.1057/9780230339187 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Marks,MichaelP. Metaphorsininternationalrelationstheory/MichaelP.Marks. p. cm. 1. Internationalrelations—Language. 2. Languageand internationalrelations. I. Title. JZ1253.5.M372011 327.101—dc22 2011002896 AcataloguerecordofthebookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices Firstedition:August2011 ForBrenda Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction 1 2 ThoughtsonMetaphor 9 3 TheMetaphoricalContextofInternationalRelations 29 4 ContributionsofMetaphorstoInternationalRelations Theory 57 5 MetaphorsofPower 81 6 MetaphorsofInternationalSecurity 107 7 GameTheoryMetaphors 137 8 MetaphorsandChangingConceptionsofInternational Relations 161 9 Conclusion 183 Notes 199 Bibliography 231 Index 257 Acknowledgments Most of the inspiration for this book came from experiences in the classroom teaching students at Willamette University. Given the abstract nature of international relations in theory and practice, both mystudentsandIhavefoundthatdifficultconceptscanbemadeintel- ligiblethroughtheuseofmetaphoricalimagery.However,metaphors can serve to both clarify and confound, and thus a critical analysis of the metaphors that scholars use to frame the study of international relations can yield insights beyond that which those metaphors were originally intended to convey. Hence, my greatest intellectual debt is not to established scholars of international relations, but to the budding scholars who, in their role as undergraduates at Willamette, engaged me in a philosophical investigation of metaphors. This book wouldnotbepossibleifitwerenotfortheirintellectualcuriositythat mademethinkdeeplyaboutthephenomenaexaminedinthisbook. C h a p t e r 1 Introduction T hisisabookaboutdiscourse,specifically,scholarlydiscourseinthe studyofinternationalrelations.Thepurposeofthebookistoanalyze thelanguageofmetaphorininternationalrelations(IR)theory.Inhis bookonthebalanceofpower(andthemetaphors,myths,andmodels thereof),RichardLittle(2007,30)observesthat“thegeneralimpor- tance of metaphors until very recently has simply not been taken on board in International Relations.” While metaphors have been ever present in the study of international relations (as the bibliography of thisbookcanattest),littleexplicitorsustainedattentionhasbeenpaid totheirrole.1 Withtheadventofthe“linguisticturn”ininternational relationstheory,however,theneedtotacklethelanguageofmetaphor isevident. As will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 2, metaphors are more than mere rhetorical devices. Recent scholarship in the field of cognitive linguistics reveals that metaphors are essential to human thought and communication. Metaphors evoke images of what is known and provoke new understandings of topics under investiga- tion. In academic inquiry the role of metaphors is multiform: they can define a problem, delineate the scope of analysis, and suggest hypotheses for testing theoretical propositions.2 One of the ironies of international relations theory is that while the language of inter- national relations can sound technical and arcane to the untrained ear, the words IR scholars use to describe world affairs are highly metaphorical. They speak and write of “anarchy,” “systems,” “struc- tures,” “balances of power,” and “levels of analysis,” to name just a few of the foundational metaphors of international relations theory, not to mention the more specific metaphorical terms found in areas 2 Metaphors in International Relations Theory such as international security, international political economy, strate- gic interaction, and game theory. In short, throughout international relationsliterature,whatisstudiedisexpressedinmetaphoricalterms. ScopeoftheBook This is not a book about how politicians and policymakers use metaphors for the purposes of framing issues and formulating poli- ciesinthe areaofinternationalaffairs.Thatisasubjectthathasbeen addressedcapablybyotherscholars(see,e.g.,BeerandDeLandtsheer 2004).3 While not the central focus of this book, it is worth not- ing that the lessons scholars derive from the way political leaders use metaphors to frame foreign policy issues also are useful in dis- secting the metaphors scholars themselves use in the course of their investigations.4 Ironically, scholars of international relations are often convinced that metaphors are safer in their hands than in the hands ofpoliticians.Asthisbookwillshow,scholarswhostudyinternational relations have found metaphors to be indispensable in the construc- tion of explanatory theories. Although scholars have been adept at investigating the discursive practices of foreign policy officials, they have been less inclined to turn the lens on themselves to interrogate themetaphorstheyusetoanalyzeinternationalaffairs.Inmanyifnot most cases, the deployment of these metaphors borders on the cav- alier. And, as this volume will demonstrate, metaphors that are used haphazardly in fashioning international relations theories can lead to analysesthatarelessthanfruitful. Yet, perhaps because scholars can be casual in their use of metaphors, they do not hesitate to criticize policymakers who delib- erately use metaphors in formulating foreign policy. For example, many of the chapters in the book Metaphorical World Politics (Beer and De Landtsheer 2004) are quick to highlight what the authors see as the pernicious use of metaphors by politicians in devising and implementing government policy in the area of international affairs. Richard Gregg (2004, 67–68), for instance, discusses how American politicians invoked metaphors of disease (e.g., the “cancer” of com- munism) during the Red Scare. Likewise, Robert Ivie (2004, 78–82) referstometaphorsinvolvinga“civilizing”motivationthatAmerican leadersutilizedwhentryingtoconvincepeopleoftheneedtospread democracy around the world. In both these cases, the authors cast a suspicious eye on political officials who use metaphors for the pur- pose of buttressing morally suspect foreign policies. Yet, a similar scrutiny is rarely applied to scholars of international relations who
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