8.4 Genealogy

Genealogy, a method developed by Michel Foucault, examines how power shapes knowledge and truth in international relations. It challenges traditional narratives, questioning the origins of accepted concepts and practices. This approach emphasizes historical contingency and the role of power in shaping dominant discourses.

Foucault's genealogical method investigates how certain forms of knowledge become dominant while others are marginalized. It explores the connection between power and knowledge, analyzing how discourses emerge and gain authority. This approach provides a critical lens for examining international relations theories and concepts.

Foucault's genealogical approach

• Genealogy is a method of historical analysis developed by Michel Foucault that examines the emergence and transformations of discourses, practices, and institutions
• Foucault's genealogical approach challenges traditional historical narratives and questions the origins and legitimacy of taken-for-granted concepts and practices in international relations
• Genealogy emphasizes the role of power relations in shaping knowledge and truth, and seeks to uncover the ways in which certain forms of knowledge become dominant while others are marginalized or suppressed

Power and knowledge

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• Foucault argues that power and knowledge are intimately connected and mutually reinforcing
• Power relations shape what counts as legitimate knowledge and truth, while knowledge in turn supports and justifies existing power structures
• Genealogy examines how particular forms of knowledge emerge and become dominant through the exercise of power (disciplinary power, biopower)

Discourse and truth

• Foucault understands discourse as a set of statements, practices, and institutions that produce and regulate knowledge and truth
• Genealogy investigates the historical conditions and power relations that enable certain discourses to emerge and gain authority while others are excluded or silenced
• Foucault challenges the idea of universal, objective truth and instead emphasizes the historical contingency and situatedness of truth claims (regime of truth)

Subjugated knowledges

• Genealogy seeks to recover and give voice to subjugated knowledges - forms of knowledge that have been disqualified, marginalized, or suppressed by dominant discourses and power structures
• Subjugated knowledges include local, popular, and indigenous knowledges that challenge the authority of scientific and expert knowledge
• By bringing subjugated knowledges to light, genealogy aims to destabilize dominant narratives and open up space for alternative perspectives and forms of resistance (insurrection of subjugated knowledges)

Genealogy vs archaeology

• Foucault's earlier archaeological method focused on analyzing the rules and conditions that govern the production of knowledge within a particular historical period or episteme
• In contrast, genealogy emphasizes the role of power relations in shaping knowledge and attends to the discontinuities, ruptures, and transformations in the history of discourses and practices

Continuity and discontinuity

• While archaeology seeks to identify the underlying continuities and regularities in the formation of knowledge, genealogy highlights the discontinuities and ruptures in history
• Genealogy rejects the idea of linear progress and instead emphasizes the contingency and fragility of historical developments
• Foucault argues that discontinuities and ruptures are essential for understanding the emergence of new forms of knowledge, power, and subjectivity (epistemic breaks)

Historical contingency

• Genealogy emphasizes the historical contingency of social and political phenomena, arguing that things could have been otherwise
• Rather than searching for timeless essences or origins, genealogy traces the complex, contingent, and often accidental processes through which certain practices and institutions emerge and become dominant
• By highlighting historical contingency, genealogy opens up possibilities for critique and transformation (history of the present)

Ruptures and transformations

• Genealogy attends to the ruptures and transformations in the history of discourses and practices, examining how new forms of knowledge and power emerge through breaks with the past
• Foucault argues that major historical shifts (scientific revolutions, political upheavals) involve fundamental reconfigurations of the relations between power, knowledge, and subjectivity
• By tracing these ruptures and transformations, genealogy aims to denaturalize the present and show how things that appear necessary or inevitable are in fact the product of contingent historical processes

Genealogy in international relations

• Genealogical approaches in IR challenge the ahistorical and universalizing tendencies of traditional theories and question the taken-for-granted assumptions that underpin key concepts and practices in global politics
• Genealogy offers a critical perspective on the historical emergence and transformations of international norms, institutions, and power relations, highlighting their contingency and contestability

Challenging traditional IR theories

• Genealogy problematizes the foundationalist assumptions of traditional IR theories (realism, liberalism) and their claims to objective, scientific knowledge
• By situating IR theories within their historical and political contexts, genealogy reveals their complicity with dominant power structures and their role in reproducing particular forms of international order
• Genealogical analyses challenge the universality and timelessness of IR concepts (anarchy, balance of power) and show how they are shaped by specific historical conditions and power relations

Problematizing sovereignty

• Genealogy questions the naturalness and inevitability of the modern state system and the principle of sovereignty that underpins it
• By tracing the historical emergence of sovereignty as a political technology, genealogy reveals its contingency and its entanglement with particular forms of power and subjectivity (disciplinary power, governmentality)
• Genealogical analyses problematize the sharp distinction between the domestic and the international and show how the production of sovereign states is intimately connected to the production of international order

Rethinking power in global politics

• Genealogy offers a more expansive and relational understanding of power in international relations, moving beyond the narrow focus on military and economic capabilities
• By attending to the micro-physics of power and the ways in which power operates through knowledge, discourse, and subjectivity, genealogy highlights the productive and constitutive effects of power in shaping global politics
• Genealogical analyses examine how particular forms of power (disciplinary power, biopower) emerge and circulate through international institutions, practices, and discourses (development, human rights)

Applications of genealogy

• Genealogical approaches have been applied to a wide range of issues and domains in international relations, offering critical perspectives on the historical emergence and transformations of key concepts, practices, and institutions

Genealogy of war and peace

• Genealogical analyses examine the changing discourses and practices of war and peace throughout history, challenging the idea of a linear progression towards more peaceful and civilized forms of international relations
• By tracing the emergence of particular ways of conceptualizing and conducting war (just war theory, total war), genealogy reveals their contingency and their entanglement with specific forms of power and subjectivity
• Genealogical approaches also problematize the binary opposition between war and peace and show how the pursuit of peace can itself be a form of power and domination (liberal peace, humanitarian intervention)

Genealogy of diplomacy

• Genealogy investigates the historical emergence and transformations of diplomatic practices and institutions, questioning their naturalness and inevitability
• By examining the changing forms of diplomatic knowledge, discourse, and subjectivity (ambassador, diplomatic protocol), genealogy reveals the power relations and historical contingencies that shape the conduct of diplomacy
• Genealogical analyses also problematize the distinction between public and private diplomacy and show how diplomatic practices are intimately connected to the production of international order and hierarchy

Genealogy of international law

• Genealogy offers a critical perspective on the historical emergence and development of international law, challenging its claims to universality and neutrality
• By tracing the colonial and imperial origins of international law, genealogy reveals its complicity with dominant power structures and its role in legitimizing and reproducing global inequalities
• Genealogical analyses examine how particular legal concepts and doctrines (sovereignty, self-determination) emerge and evolve through the interplay of power, knowledge, and subjectivity in the international legal system

Critiques of genealogy

• Genealogical approaches have been subject to various criticisms and challenges, both in terms of their theoretical assumptions and their methodological and normative implications

Relativism and nihilism

• Critics argue that genealogy's emphasis on the historical contingency and situatedness of knowledge and truth can lead to a form of relativism or nihilism that undermines the possibility of objective knowledge and moral judgement
• By questioning the foundations of truth and morality, genealogy is accused of promoting a 'anything goes' attitude that can be politically disabling and intellectually irresponsible
• Defenders of genealogy argue that recognizing the historical contingency of knowledge and values does not necessarily entail a rejection of truth or morality, but rather calls for a more reflexive and situated approach to normative and epistemological questions

Lack of normative foundations

• Critics argue that genealogy's suspicion of normative foundations and its emphasis on the entanglement of power and knowledge leaves it without a clear basis for political and ethical critique
• By deconstructing the universalist claims of traditional political theories and moral philosophies, genealogy is accused of undermining the possibility of normative critique and political resistance
• Proponents of genealogy argue that the method can still provide a basis for critique by revealing the contingency and contestability of dominant norms and practices, and by opening up space for alternative forms of subjectivity and resistance

Methodological challenges

• Genealogy faces various methodological challenges in terms of the selection and interpretation of historical sources, the demarcation of relevant periods and contexts, and the validation of genealogical claims
• Critics argue that genealogical analyses can be selective and arbitrary in their use of historical evidence, and that they often rely on speculative and unverifiable claims about the motives and intentions of historical actors
• Defenders of genealogy argue that the method's aim is not to provide a definitive or exhaustive account of history, but rather to problematize dominant narratives and open up new perspectives on the past and present