The Limitations of the Critical Edge: Reflections on Critical and Philosophical IR Scholarship Today

The crisis of 2009 has not proved to be a great impetus for new critical redirection of political and economic thinking in the West: both politico-economic structures in the West and the models of development and democratisation at the heart of Western foreign policy agendas remain much the same. This is despite the continued efforts of critical and philosophical IR theorists to push ‘critical thinking’ and ‘alternative agendas’ in world politics. Why the dismal 'real world' failure of critical and philosophical IR research? This piece reflects on the trends towards depoliticisation, fragmentation, and deconcretisation of critical and philosophical IR research and suggests some potential ways forward in reorienting critical and philosophical research in the field.