Mimicry and ambivalence in the concept of sovereignty:

a Brazilian contribution to the Discipline of International Relations

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30612/rmufgd.v11i21.15621

Keywords:

Global IR; Brazil; Sovereignty.

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the concept of sovereignty embodied in the four most-cited authors of the first generation of International Relations (IR) in Brazil, namely: Amado Cervo, Hélio Jaguaribe, José Flávio Sombra Saraiva and Maria Regina Soares de Lima. We evaluate the concept of sovereignty from the perspective of the Brazilian authors mentioned in contrapuntal to the view of this concept in the works of the American author Stephen Krasner. This study is developed in dialogue with the Global International Relations (Global IR) research agenda, which explores new perspectives in the IR discipline, encouraging its diversification. It is essential to explain that, to carry out this analysis, we adopted as a theoretical-methodological framework the concepts of mimicry and ambivalence, both theorized by Homi Bhabha as well as Edward Said’s contrapuntal reading. This way, we seek to establish bridges between different knowledge and discuss the Brazilian view of a fundamental IR concept: sovereignty. We verify that a national thought in IR approaching sovereignty is relatively different from what we observed in Krasner, whose work mostly represents the discipline’s mainstream. We conclude that this difference results from how national ideas of development and autonomy are articulated together with the concept of sovereignty.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

ACHARYA, Amitav. Global International Relations (IR) and regional worlds: a new agenda for international studies. International Studies Quarterly, [S. l.], vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 647-659, Dec. 2014.

ACHARYA, Amitav. How ideas spread: whose norms matter? Norm localization and institutional change in Asian regionalism. International Organization, [S. l.], vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 239-275, May 2004.

ACHARYA, Amitav. Towards a Global IR? In: MCGLINCHEY, Stephen; SCHEINPFLUG, Christian; WALTERS, Rosie (Eds.). International Relations Theory. Bristol: E-International Relations Publishing, 2017. pp. 76-82.

AUTONOMÍA Sitiada: ¿Cómo pensamos las políticas exteriores de América Latina en el siglo XXI. Program of Estudios Europeas de la Udec, [S. l.], 2020. 1 video (1:57:50). Published by Estudios Europeos Program channel. Available in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PDXHQnCiI&t=2815s. Access on: 05 June 2021.

BHABHA, Homi. Of mimicry and man: the ambivalence of colonial discourse. Discipleship: A Special Issue on Psychoanalysis, [S. l.], vol. 28, pp. 125-133, Oct. 1984.

BHABHA, Homi. The location of culture. London and New York: Routledge, 1994.

BILGIN, Pinar. “Contrapuntal reading” as a method, an ethos, and a metaphor for Global IR. International Studies Review, [S. l.], vol. 0, pp. 1-13, Feb. 2016.

BODIN, Jean. Os Seis Livros da República: Livro Primeiro. Translation: José Carlos Orsi Morel. São Paulo: Ícone Editora, 2011.

CANCLINI, Néstor García. Culturas híbridas: estratégias para entrar e sair da modernidade. Translation: Ana Regina Lessa e Heloísa Pezza Cintrão; Introduction translation: Gênese Andrade. 4. ed. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 2008.

CERVO, Amado Luiz. Conceitos em Relações Internacionais. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Brasília, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 8-25, 2008a.

CERVO, Amado Luiz. Inserção internacional: formação dos conceitos brasileiros. São Paulo: Editora Saraiva, 2008b.

CHATTERJEE, Partha. Colonialismo, modernidade e política. Translation: Fábio Baqueiro Figueiredo e Valdemir Zamporoni. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2004.

CHOWDHRY, Geeta. Edward Said and contrapuntal reading: implications for critical interventions in international relations. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, [S. l.], vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 101-116, Dec. 2007.

COX, Robert. Social forces, states and world orders: beyond International Relations Theory. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, [S. l.], vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 126-155, 1981.

HERZ, Monica. O crescimento da área de Relações Internacionais no Brasil. Contexto Internacional, Rio de Janeiro, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 7-40, Jan./June 2002.

HOBBES, Thomas. Leviatã: ou matéria forma e poder de um Estado eclesiástico e civil. Translation: Eleonora Magalhães de Gusmão. Santa Catarina: Clube de Autores, 2020 [1651].

JAGUARIBE, Hélio. Autonomia periferiea y hegemonia céntrica. Estudios Internacionales, Chile, vol. 12, no. 49, pp. 91-130, Apr./May 1979.

JAGUARIBE, Hélio. MERCOSUL e a nova ordem mundial. Centro Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (CEBRI), [S. l.], vol. 1, year 1, pp. 3-9, 2002.

JAGUARIBE, Hélio. O Brasil ante o século XXI. Instituto de Estudos Avançados da Universidade de São Paulo (IEAUSP), São Paulo, 2012. Available in: http://www.iea.usp.br/publicacoes/textos/jaguaribeseculo21.pdf/view. Access on: 17 Sept. 2020.

KALIL, Mariana Alves da Cunha. The Global South is in Exile. E-International Relations, [S. l.], 17 May 2020. Available in: https://www.e-ir.info/2020/05/17/the-global-south-is-in-exile/. Access on: 22 July 2020.

KALIL, Mariana Alves da Cunha. Thinking Past the Latin American Hybrid: Rationalism in Exile — a Brazilian contribution to the theory of International Relations. 2017, 304 pp. Thesis (PhD in International Relations) — Instituto de Relações Internacionais, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brasília, 2017.

KRASNER, Stephen. Abiding sovereignty. International Political Science Review, [S. l.], vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 229-251, July 2001a.

KRASNER, Stephen. Compromising Westphalia. International Security, [S. l.], vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 115- 151, Dec./Feb. 1995.

KRASNER, Stephen. Rethinking the sovereign state model. Review of International Studies, [S. l.], vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 17-42, Dec. 2001b.

KRASNER, Stephen. Sovereignty: organized hypocrisy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1999.

LIMA, Maria Regina Soares. A política externa brasileira e os desafios da cooperação Sul-Sul. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Brasília, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 24-59, 2005a.

LIMA, Maria Regina Soares. Aspiração internacional e Política Externa. Revista Brasileira de Comércio Exterior, [S. l.], year XIX, no. 82, Jan./Mar. 2005b.

PINHEIRO, Letícia; LIMA, Maria Regina Soares de. Between autonomy and dependency: the place of agency in Brazilian foreign policy. Brazilian Political Science Review, São Paulo, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1-22, 2018.

ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques. Do contrato social: ou princípios do direito político. Translation: Eduardo Brandão. São Paulo: Companhia das letras, 2011 [1762].

SAID, Edward Wadie. Culture and imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

SAID, Edward Wadie. Reflections on exile and Other Essays. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.

SARAIVA, José Flávio Sombra. Autonomia na inserção internacional do Brasil: um caminho histórico próprio. Contexto Internacional, Rio de Janeiro, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 9-41, Jan./June 2014.

THOMAS, Lindsey. Contrapuntal analysis. The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, [S. l.], 7 Nov. 2017. Available in: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0269. Access on: 27 Mar. 2020.

WALKER, R. B. J. Security, sovereignty, and the challenge of world politics. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, [S. l.], vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 3-27, Jan. 1990.

Downloads

Published

2022-11-23

How to Cite

de Oliveira, A. C. (2022). Mimicry and ambivalence in the concept of sovereignty:: a Brazilian contribution to the Discipline of International Relations. Monções: UFGD Journal of International Relations, 11(21), 174–203. https://doi.org/10.30612/rmufgd.v11i21.15621

Issue

Section

Artigos Dossiê - Ampliando as fronteiras das Relações Internacionais a partir de perspectivas do Sul Global