Mogelijke vragen HIR (tem les 9)
Introductie
It is useful for social scientists to study history for four reasons:
1) To learn lessons from history: History reveals the context-specificity of scholarly
knowledge claims E.g. ‘the balance of power’, ‘the democratic peace’. Some
researchers claim to have found a universal law, but history shows us the opposite
happens
2) History serves as a resource for political memories: The politics of historical
memories
E.g. Kiev and Russian foreign policy claims: Russia justifies actions against Ukraine with
references to distant history. “Kiev used to be the capitol of Russia therefore the war is
legitimised”. Political memories = ways of remembering the past, aspects of the past being
remembered
o Shared by people with different backgrounds who often didn’t experience
the memories
o Propagated by ‘memory activists’: don’t grow naturally, people have to talk
about them
o Based on ‘selection and exclusion’ à usually only the good/heroic ones are
remembered
o Depends on the ‘efficiency of political pedagogy’
o Show a high degree of ‘homogeneity’ because of the propaganda
o Relies on symbols and rites that ‘enhance emotions of empathy and
identification’
3) The contingency of moral ideas and social arrangements
, E.g.‘gender equality’ (isn’t a natural truth) or ‘natural slavery’ (it was a widely shared idea).
We discover that ways of organising society have developed over the centuries □ can evolve
in the future
4) Historical legacies: the present is laden with the past
refers to ‘essentialism’ which means the view that objects have a set of attributes that are
necessary to their identity. E.g. ‘post-communist societies’: current situation is explained by
the 50 years of communism. E.g. ‘post-colonial relations’: Belgium and Congo have
developed certain attitudes because of colonialism
Yes, this is a problem. Presentism refers to a single focus on the present. For example, the
fact that a lot of scholars see the Threat of Wespthalia (1648) as the beginning of IR.
Eurocentrism means that there is a focus on Europe and emphasising Western ideas and
theories. Using only these perspectives to look at IR is problematic as these are one-sided
arguments. Non-Western powers are re-asserting (zichzelf herbevestigen) themselves as the
distribution of power in the world is currently changing, cfr. BRICS. (Historical legacies and
Historical memory). What is the logic of the international system? □ some institutions are
inevitable, we can’t think them away (Contingency of present arrangements and
Context-specificity of knowledge claims).
China
Why did the Warring States Period brought a cultural/intellectual era forward?
They were not totally destructive wars, economic prosperity possible because of innovation
in the military industry. “States make war and war makes states” – Charles Tilly (= European
observation, but applies here too)
- Political competition spurred economic development
o Military technology and production: innovation
o Organise political system better (need more income) -> development of
bureaucracy
§ Taxation, but there are limits
o Increase economic production -> increase taxes
Introductie
It is useful for social scientists to study history for four reasons:
1) To learn lessons from history: History reveals the context-specificity of scholarly
knowledge claims E.g. ‘the balance of power’, ‘the democratic peace’. Some
researchers claim to have found a universal law, but history shows us the opposite
happens
2) History serves as a resource for political memories: The politics of historical
memories
E.g. Kiev and Russian foreign policy claims: Russia justifies actions against Ukraine with
references to distant history. “Kiev used to be the capitol of Russia therefore the war is
legitimised”. Political memories = ways of remembering the past, aspects of the past being
remembered
o Shared by people with different backgrounds who often didn’t experience
the memories
o Propagated by ‘memory activists’: don’t grow naturally, people have to talk
about them
o Based on ‘selection and exclusion’ à usually only the good/heroic ones are
remembered
o Depends on the ‘efficiency of political pedagogy’
o Show a high degree of ‘homogeneity’ because of the propaganda
o Relies on symbols and rites that ‘enhance emotions of empathy and
identification’
3) The contingency of moral ideas and social arrangements
, E.g.‘gender equality’ (isn’t a natural truth) or ‘natural slavery’ (it was a widely shared idea).
We discover that ways of organising society have developed over the centuries □ can evolve
in the future
4) Historical legacies: the present is laden with the past
refers to ‘essentialism’ which means the view that objects have a set of attributes that are
necessary to their identity. E.g. ‘post-communist societies’: current situation is explained by
the 50 years of communism. E.g. ‘post-colonial relations’: Belgium and Congo have
developed certain attitudes because of colonialism
Yes, this is a problem. Presentism refers to a single focus on the present. For example, the
fact that a lot of scholars see the Threat of Wespthalia (1648) as the beginning of IR.
Eurocentrism means that there is a focus on Europe and emphasising Western ideas and
theories. Using only these perspectives to look at IR is problematic as these are one-sided
arguments. Non-Western powers are re-asserting (zichzelf herbevestigen) themselves as the
distribution of power in the world is currently changing, cfr. BRICS. (Historical legacies and
Historical memory). What is the logic of the international system? □ some institutions are
inevitable, we can’t think them away (Contingency of present arrangements and
Context-specificity of knowledge claims).
China
Why did the Warring States Period brought a cultural/intellectual era forward?
They were not totally destructive wars, economic prosperity possible because of innovation
in the military industry. “States make war and war makes states” – Charles Tilly (= European
observation, but applies here too)
- Political competition spurred economic development
o Military technology and production: innovation
o Organise political system better (need more income) -> development of
bureaucracy
§ Taxation, but there are limits
o Increase economic production -> increase taxes
