QUESTIONS FROM SLIDES + ANSWERS
INTRODUCTION
1) Why is it useful for social scientist to study history?
it is a known thing that you can extract certain patters out of history, and they can help us
with how we tackle issues in the future. We can see how we ended up in a situation and how
we best handle in it (or how definitely not to). So, study the past to orientate ourselves in the
future.
When you study the historical emergence of an institution you will find out why it exists in the
first place.
1. Historical legacies
o Present behavior is somehow burdened by the past, so you can try to capture this by
looking at the past legacies
o Ex. Post-communist societies
A society that has left communist behind (post = after) -> if you abandon
communism there’s a good chance that this way the society worked before will
influence the future
There was a lot of distrust in post-communist societies and this effected them
2. The politics of historical memories
o The past is mobilized by political entrepreneurs, so the influence it not direct but its
mediated. So they manipulate how people think about the past
Not only them put also the government plays a big role in this
o Ex. Kiev and Russian foreign policy claims
Here you have multiple ways (at least 2) that there was talked about past events
o Historical memory is subjective -> it is created collectively
Political memories
– Propagated by memory activists
o The past can be remembered in different ways and this is because of different
entrepreneurs describe the history
– Based on selection and inclusion
– Depens on the ‘efficiency of political pedagogy’
– Show a high degree of ‘homogeneity’
– Relies on symbols and rites that ‘enhance emotions of empathy and identification’
3. The contingency of moral ideas and social arrangements
o Things that exist for some reason but that “shouldn’t exist” in a way that they are not
naturally given
o They are not natural in a way that they are not given so they weren’t always like this and
they can change in the future
It doesn’t mean that they are desirable and easy to change
o Ex. ‘Gender equality’ or ‘natural slavery’ or ‘sovereignty’
people speak not about ‘slaves’ but about humans that have been ‘enslaved’ to
show that it’s not natural that they are slaves
4. Lessons from history
o Maybe looking at the past can make you avoid mistakes in the present/future
, ‘maybe’ because this idea assumes that you can compare the past situation with
the present one because the conditions are never going to be exactly the same
2) Is it a problem that IR as a discipline betrays a ‘presentist’ and a ‘eurocentric
bias’ ?
Is this a problem? No, because the more you focus on a certain period and region, you can
go more into detail (than it’s broader but it can become more superficial). BUT this course
takes the broader view though
– Non-western powers are re-asserting themselves (there powers is not the same as it
was ‘assigned’ in the beginning)
o Historical legacies -> they carry their past with them (so this is the reason why it
is politically useful to study these societies)
o Historical memory
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).
3) What is an ‘international system’? What is the logic of this system?
– Basic unit: state, sovereign state
– Social practices: borders, flags, anthems
– Rules & norms: sovereign equality
– Implications: anarchy, security dilemma, violence
The assumption is that in each of these regions of the world some kind of international society
developed. There was regular interaction of various kinds (conflict, trade, exchange, …)
between these regions that were aware of each other’s existence. So to organize their co-
existence there were institutions created. What these institutions are, is various in different
places and different moments in history.
CHINA AND EAST ASIA
4) What is china? And what is e ‘Chinese’ international systeme?
China today has evolved to a nation state which means the population identifies as Chinese.
Its multi – ethnic but the government puts effort into people identifying as Chinese.
What does it mean to identify a ‘Chinese’ international system?
= there were multiple small polities that expanded and became of proper China. An
international system cannot consist of 1 polity only. There were also surrounding polities
which gained independence and China grew relations with these independent polities &
organized institutions to keep them as happy as possible.
What China is NOT = a nation-state
– Imperial dynasties with pretence of being the ‘middle kingdom’
– A civilization zone sharing in a set of ritual practices
, o This geographical space was also a civilization zone
What it does NOT mean to identify a Chinese international system: encompassing (= it did not
cover the whole of Asia, sometimes it expanded sometimes contracted), unchanging,
unquestionable Confucian (but there were some elements of it)
the ruler can be overruled by another one or another system
– Overland system
o Imperial dynasty with policies to the North and the West
– Tribute system
o Organized relations of China to the South and the East
5) The warring states period was a period of intense and often violent political-
military competition, and yet it was a period in which China flourished. How is it
possible?
We have an idea that war is about destroying the enemy (= total war), but historically this
is a rare phenomena.
– Political competition is spurred with economic development
o Because the innovations must be financed, if you want to be successful in a war
you need money. You raise and collect more taxes. Therefore, you need a
thriving economy because otherwise there is nothing to tax.
o With this point, also the development of the government is very important (the
organization)
– Political competition is spurred with intellectual creativity
o For example, now the use of drones or AI (technological innovation)
During this period these new ideas emerged and found their receptive audience
1. Kongzi/ Confucianism: proper conduct within hierarchical, personal relations
He said to rulers that rules and laws are less important than virtue. You should focus
on cultivating virtue in urself -> you instruct people about the fact that a social
order will be most stable if people will accept that they are imbedded in these
hierarchical relations and that they have obligations within these relations
If you succeed to embed this idea in people, there is way less need for law and rules
2. Daoism
Less focused of virtue but more on spirituality. People should create a relationship
with spirits because they are responsible for people feeling like they belong in a
community.
=
3. Fajia/ Legalisme: ruthless pursuit of state interest, role of law therein, but ruler above law,
certainly in foreign affairs
It is conservative in the sense that it wants to preserve the stability of the ruler ->
unlike Confusionism it downplays the importance of virtue and upgrades the
importance of rules. There is a need of transparence of what the rules are and what
the punishment is if people transgress them. BUT the rules is above the rules (it can
break them when it’s in the interest of the state, he can introduce new ones, …)
6) Why did China hold a particular attraction for these nomadic polities? Why did
they pose such a challenge for China?
Attraction for the nomadic: nomads covet/took products/goods during raids which they
couldn’t produce on their own (gold, silver, silk, animals, women)
INTRODUCTION
1) Why is it useful for social scientist to study history?
it is a known thing that you can extract certain patters out of history, and they can help us
with how we tackle issues in the future. We can see how we ended up in a situation and how
we best handle in it (or how definitely not to). So, study the past to orientate ourselves in the
future.
When you study the historical emergence of an institution you will find out why it exists in the
first place.
1. Historical legacies
o Present behavior is somehow burdened by the past, so you can try to capture this by
looking at the past legacies
o Ex. Post-communist societies
A society that has left communist behind (post = after) -> if you abandon
communism there’s a good chance that this way the society worked before will
influence the future
There was a lot of distrust in post-communist societies and this effected them
2. The politics of historical memories
o The past is mobilized by political entrepreneurs, so the influence it not direct but its
mediated. So they manipulate how people think about the past
Not only them put also the government plays a big role in this
o Ex. Kiev and Russian foreign policy claims
Here you have multiple ways (at least 2) that there was talked about past events
o Historical memory is subjective -> it is created collectively
Political memories
– Propagated by memory activists
o The past can be remembered in different ways and this is because of different
entrepreneurs describe the history
– Based on selection and inclusion
– Depens on the ‘efficiency of political pedagogy’
– Show a high degree of ‘homogeneity’
– Relies on symbols and rites that ‘enhance emotions of empathy and identification’
3. The contingency of moral ideas and social arrangements
o Things that exist for some reason but that “shouldn’t exist” in a way that they are not
naturally given
o They are not natural in a way that they are not given so they weren’t always like this and
they can change in the future
It doesn’t mean that they are desirable and easy to change
o Ex. ‘Gender equality’ or ‘natural slavery’ or ‘sovereignty’
people speak not about ‘slaves’ but about humans that have been ‘enslaved’ to
show that it’s not natural that they are slaves
4. Lessons from history
o Maybe looking at the past can make you avoid mistakes in the present/future
, ‘maybe’ because this idea assumes that you can compare the past situation with
the present one because the conditions are never going to be exactly the same
2) Is it a problem that IR as a discipline betrays a ‘presentist’ and a ‘eurocentric
bias’ ?
Is this a problem? No, because the more you focus on a certain period and region, you can
go more into detail (than it’s broader but it can become more superficial). BUT this course
takes the broader view though
– Non-western powers are re-asserting themselves (there powers is not the same as it
was ‘assigned’ in the beginning)
o Historical legacies -> they carry their past with them (so this is the reason why it
is politically useful to study these societies)
o Historical memory
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).
3) What is an ‘international system’? What is the logic of this system?
– Basic unit: state, sovereign state
– Social practices: borders, flags, anthems
– Rules & norms: sovereign equality
– Implications: anarchy, security dilemma, violence
The assumption is that in each of these regions of the world some kind of international society
developed. There was regular interaction of various kinds (conflict, trade, exchange, …)
between these regions that were aware of each other’s existence. So to organize their co-
existence there were institutions created. What these institutions are, is various in different
places and different moments in history.
CHINA AND EAST ASIA
4) What is china? And what is e ‘Chinese’ international systeme?
China today has evolved to a nation state which means the population identifies as Chinese.
Its multi – ethnic but the government puts effort into people identifying as Chinese.
What does it mean to identify a ‘Chinese’ international system?
= there were multiple small polities that expanded and became of proper China. An
international system cannot consist of 1 polity only. There were also surrounding polities
which gained independence and China grew relations with these independent polities &
organized institutions to keep them as happy as possible.
What China is NOT = a nation-state
– Imperial dynasties with pretence of being the ‘middle kingdom’
– A civilization zone sharing in a set of ritual practices
, o This geographical space was also a civilization zone
What it does NOT mean to identify a Chinese international system: encompassing (= it did not
cover the whole of Asia, sometimes it expanded sometimes contracted), unchanging,
unquestionable Confucian (but there were some elements of it)
the ruler can be overruled by another one or another system
– Overland system
o Imperial dynasty with policies to the North and the West
– Tribute system
o Organized relations of China to the South and the East
5) The warring states period was a period of intense and often violent political-
military competition, and yet it was a period in which China flourished. How is it
possible?
We have an idea that war is about destroying the enemy (= total war), but historically this
is a rare phenomena.
– Political competition is spurred with economic development
o Because the innovations must be financed, if you want to be successful in a war
you need money. You raise and collect more taxes. Therefore, you need a
thriving economy because otherwise there is nothing to tax.
o With this point, also the development of the government is very important (the
organization)
– Political competition is spurred with intellectual creativity
o For example, now the use of drones or AI (technological innovation)
During this period these new ideas emerged and found their receptive audience
1. Kongzi/ Confucianism: proper conduct within hierarchical, personal relations
He said to rulers that rules and laws are less important than virtue. You should focus
on cultivating virtue in urself -> you instruct people about the fact that a social
order will be most stable if people will accept that they are imbedded in these
hierarchical relations and that they have obligations within these relations
If you succeed to embed this idea in people, there is way less need for law and rules
2. Daoism
Less focused of virtue but more on spirituality. People should create a relationship
with spirits because they are responsible for people feeling like they belong in a
community.
=
3. Fajia/ Legalisme: ruthless pursuit of state interest, role of law therein, but ruler above law,
certainly in foreign affairs
It is conservative in the sense that it wants to preserve the stability of the ruler ->
unlike Confusionism it downplays the importance of virtue and upgrades the
importance of rules. There is a need of transparence of what the rules are and what
the punishment is if people transgress them. BUT the rules is above the rules (it can
break them when it’s in the interest of the state, he can introduce new ones, …)
6) Why did China hold a particular attraction for these nomadic polities? Why did
they pose such a challenge for China?
Attraction for the nomadic: nomads covet/took products/goods during raids which they
couldn’t produce on their own (gold, silver, silk, animals, women)
