Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 1:30 pm – Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 3:00 pm
Jonathan Rodwell - The Ongoing Poverty of Theory in Diplomatic History
Politics and International Relations Seminar Series
Date: Wednesday 13th March 2018
Time: 1.30pm – 3pm
Location: Geoffrey Manton, GM302
Tickets: Free – available on Eventbrite
Two talks available:
- 12pm - 1pm - Aylin Topal on Microfinancialization of Rural Development in Mexico: The Case of Chiapas
- 1.30pm - 3pm - Jonathan Rodwell on The Ongoing Poverty of Theory in Diplomatic History
- With refreshments served 1pm - 1.30pm
In 1959 William Appleman Williams wrote ‘The Tragedy of American Diplomacy’, regarded as one of the most influential works in the field of Diplomatic History. Tragedy seems an apt word for current US foreign policy. Today, some members of the US military in Afghanistan will have been born after that war began. The economic nationalism and mercantilism some thought were stories from the distant past are becoming current US economic policy. Successful multilateral treaties attempting to curb nuclear weapons and enhance regional relations have been abandoned. The US is actively undermining Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
This talk explores the extent to which US Diplomatic History as an academic field shares a degree of responsibility for this ‘tragedy’. Inspired by Appleman Williams, Bruce Cummings, and critiques that exist within the field of International Relations, the talk will demonstrate a lack of theoretical engagement within significant parts of Diplomatic History, as well as sometimes vocal misunderstanding of theoretical perspectives. This potential ‘poverty of theory’ produces a limited critical engagement with the nature and sources of US foreign policy which means that the field of Diplomatic History is more a supporter of US foreign policy than an attempt to critically explain or understand it.
Jonathan Rodwell is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at MMU. He has served both as foundation year coordinator and programme leader of Politics and IR. He currently coordinates the MP placement programme and helped to establish the International Relations degree programme at MMU. His research interests include diplomatic history, popular culture, technologization and the relevance of the philosophy of Donald Davidson for International Relations Theory.
Part of the Politics, International Relations and Public Services Research Seminar Series at Manchester Met. The Politics, International Relations and Public Services Research Seminar Series is a unique, cross-disciplinary seminar series that was launched in 2017 to bring together scholars working across several research centres whose work focuses on political questions. The series brings together scholars from the History Research Centre, the Centre for Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics, and the Research Centre for Applied Social Sciences. We are supported by the Politics, International Relations and Public Services section, and our members also have connections to the Critical Theory Network, Gothic Research Cluster and the Religious and Intellectual History Cluster. The series aims to bring together scholars from around the UK and Manchester Metropolitan to explore political research with a strong emphasis on knowledge exchange. We welcome the public, students, practitioners and researchers to attend, with a view to showcasing the variety of world-leading Politics, IR and Public Services research at Manchester Metropolitan University.