Religion as poetic discourse and the theorization of international politics
Abstract
Scholars in the field of International Relations have recently sought to re-engage
religion out of the recognition that the so-called global resurgence of religion has
challenged the previously prevailing epistemological and ontological assumptions
which implied that religion was at most a marginal factor to the study of international
politics. This thesis enters into the renewed conversations regarding religion and
international politics by arguing that in order to take seriously the real challenge
presented by the global resurgence of religion there is need to understand religion as
poetic discourse. Appealing to the thought of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, it
characterizes poetic discourse as that which constitutes a world of desirability and in so
doing speaks to human existence as effort and desire. So oriented according to
characteristics of desirability, a poetically-disclosed world in turn brings into relief
alternative ways of understanding the scope of possibility and impossibility,
practicability and impracticability. Religion as poetic discourse thus presents important
resources for the potential transformation of international political community.
Recovering the legitimacy of poetic discourse in the face of critiques of religion that
rightly bring into relief the challenges stemming from the disenchantment of the world,
the thesis underscores that religion understood as poetic discourse is necessarily tied to
the exercise of interpretive, practical judgment. What the global resurgence of religion
most significantly raises, therefore, is a challenge to those approaches, two of which this
thesis critiques, which would seek to attain to a science of praxis at the level of
international politics by denying their own poetic character.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Rights
Embargo Date: 2023-06-08
Embargo Reason: Thesis restricted in accordance with University regulations. Electronic copy restricted until 8th June 2023
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