Eros Of International Relations

'Eros of International Relations' is a distinctive work that explores the much-neglected Chinese perspective in broader international relations theory. Using the concept of 'self-feminizing' - adoption of a feminine identity to oblige and achieve mutual caring as a relational strategy - this book argues that postcolonial actors have employed gendered identities in order to survive the squeezing pressure of globalisation and nationalism in their own ways.

Eros of International Relations: Self-Feminizing and the Claiming of Postcolonial Chineseness is a distinctive work that explores the much-neglected Chinese perspective in broader international relations theory. Using the concept of “self-feminizing”—adoption of a feminine identity to oblige and achieve mutual caring as a relational strategy—this book argues that postcolonial actors have employed gendered identities in order to survive the squeezing pressure of globalization and nationalism in their own ways. Sovereign actors who have historically claimed to act on behalf of Chineseness have taken advantage of the images of femininity thrust upon them by transnational capitalism, the media, or intellectual thought. Shih illustrates the feminist potential for emancipation through a range of empirical examples, showing that women of various Chinese characteristics, acting on behalf of their nation, city, and corporations, reject the masculinization of their groups of belonging as remedy for inferiority or threat. Carried out effectively, Shih argues, actors who self-feminize have the potential to deconstruct the binaries of masculine competition and seek alternative strategies under the postcolonial global order. Eros of International Relations is a welcome contribution that ties together revisionist yet friendly reflections on the current studies of postcolonialism, international relations, relational theory, China studies, cultural studies, and feminism. “Chih-yu Shih is one of the pioneers doing gender and international relations in China. His critical renovation of postcolonial feminism demonstrates that self-romanticization, non-solution, and inconsistency are plausible strategies that help us transcend the boundaries internalized by hegemonic discourse.” —Yingtao Li, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China “Eros of International Relations develops the potent idea of self-feminizing as a relational, caring, and emancipatory strategy employed by postcolonial actors in a globalized world. This book is a fascinating reflection on feminist, postcolonial, and non-Western international relations scholarship.” —Arlene B. Tickner, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia “Drawing on postcolonial feminism, Shih explores the power of self-feminizing as a strategy in world politics, which he illustrates with case studies from Chinese history. A must-read for students of international relations and China alike.” —Pinar Bilgin, Bilkent University, Turkey

The book brings civilizational politics back to the studies of international relations and foreign policy through a study of the multiple meanings of international relations and related terms in East Asia and the intrinsic relation of international relations to individual choices of scholarly identity.

This book provides an important reappraisal of the concept of human nature in contemporary realist international-political theory. Developing a Freudian philosophical anthropology for political realism, he argues for the careful resurrection of the concept of human nature in the wider study of international relations.

There have been few efforts to overcome the binary of China versus the West. The recent global political environment, with a deepening confrontation between China and the West, strengthens this binary image. Post-Chineseness boldly challenges the essentialized notion of Chineseness in existing scholarship through the revelation of the multiplicity and complexity of the uses of Chineseness by strategically conceived insiders, outsiders, and those in-between. Combining the fields of international relations, cultural politics, and intellectual history, Chih-yu Shih investigates how the global audience perceives (and essentializes) Chineseness. Shih engages with major Chinese international relations theories, investigates the works of sinologists in Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and other academics in East Asia, and explores individual scholars' life stories and academic careers to delineate how Chineseness is constantly negotiated and reproduced. Shih's theory of the "balance of relationships" expands the concept of Chineseness and effectively challenges existing theories of realism, liberalism, and conventional constructivism in international relations. The highly original delineation of multiple layers and diverse dimensions of "Chineseness" opens an intellectual channel between the social sciences and humanities in China studies.

Since the sudden disappearance of the Soviet Union, many scholars have argued that the balance of power theory is losing its relevance. This text examines this viewpoint, as well as looking at systematic factors that may hinder or favour the return of balance of power politics.

In October 2022, the 20th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concluded, extending Xi Jinping's leadership indefinitely, which many view as a one-party dictatorship. Exploring Confucian and socialist principles, this book examines the relationship between the citizens and leaders in the Chinese autocracy. By applying a Foucauldian twist to a range of topics – from discussing the politics of love and pandemic nationalism to analysing Xi’s personality – it challenges the binary of authoritarianism and democracy. Interdisciplinary in nature, it will appeal to scholars and students working in the fields of politics, international relations, culture studies and critical theory.

In, Love and Politics Jeffery L. Nicholas argues that Eros is the final rejection of an alienated life, in which humans are prevented from developing their human powers; Eros, in contrast, is an overflowing of acting into new realities and new beauties, a world in which human beings extend their powers and senses. Nicholas uniquely interprets Alasdair MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Aristotelianism as a response to alienation defined as the divorce of fact from value. However, this account cannot address alienation in the form of the oppression of women or people of color. Importantly, it fails to acknowledge the domination of nature that blackens the heart of alienated life. Alienation must be seen as a separation of the human from nature. Nicholas turns to Aristotle, first, to uncover the way his philosophy embodies a divorce of human from nature, then to reconstruct the essential elements of Aristotle’s metaphysics to defend a philosophical anthropology based on Eros. Love and Politics: Persistent Human Desires as a Foundation for Liberation presents a critical theory that synthesizes MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Aristotelianism, Frankfurt School Critical Theory, and Social Reproduction Theory. It will be of great interest to political theorists and philosophers.