Meaning and International Relations (PDF)

Are we, after the Cold War, living in a world 'without meaning'?
How do we define ourselves in a world seemingly devoid of ideological struggle or clear foundations?
This innovative volume brings together specialists in international relations to tackle a set of difficult questions about what it means to live in a globalized world where the purpose and direction of world politics are no longer clear-cut. Taking a cue from hermeneutic philosophy, the contributors examine a diverse set of topics including the localization of meaning in a globalized world, expressions of the 'spirit of the age' in photography, ideology in a post-ideological age, nihilism and the European project, feminist precursors to the crisis of meaning in international relations, performances of ethnicity in the context of conflict, the shifting meanings of Islam in European migrant communities, the turn to religion as a source of meaning in world politics, and the debate over a 'clash of civilizations'. A shared framework built on hermeneutics and the interpretation of experience provides this wide-ranging volume with a high degree of coherency.
What emerges from these essays is a very clear sense that while we may be living in an era that lacks a single, universal purpose, ours is still a world replete with meaning. The authors in this volume stress the need for a pluralistic conception of meaning in a globalized world and demonstrate how increased communication and interaction in transnational spaces work to produce complex tapestries of culture and politics. Meaning and International Relations also makes an original and convincing case for the relevance of hermeneutic approaches to understanding contemporary international relations.