Conceptualising peace and its preconditions

The anti-Pelagian imagination and the critical turn in peace theory

Bibliographic Data

ID12923409
AuthorsSophia Dingli (0000-0001-9936-5680, University of Glasgow, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume17
Issue3
Pages468-487
Publication date2020-08-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of International Political Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1755-0882 • E-ISSN: 1755-1722
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1755088220951592
OpenAlexW3080258343
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited46

This article examines the conceptualisations of peace and its preconditions manifested in the critical turn in peace theory: bottom-up approaches which begin with particular contexts and postulate diverse local actors as integral to the process of peace-building. This article argues that the turn is at an impasse and is unable to address the crucial charge that its conceptualisation of peace is inconsistent. To explain the persistence of inconsistency and to move us forward, the article analyses, evaluates and responds to the turn through the lens of Nicholas Rengger’s work on the anti-Pelagian imagination in political theory. This is defined as a tendency to begin theorising from non-utopian, anti-perfectionist and sceptical assumptions. Through this examination the article argues that the critical turn is anti-Pelagian but not consistently so because it often gives way to perfectionism, adopts naïve readings of institutions and postulates demanding conceptions of political agency and practice. This inconsistency with its own philosophical premises makes the turn’s conceptualisation of peace and its preconditions incoherent. Finally, the article sketches an alternative account of peace which draws upon a number of anti-Pelagian scholars and mobilises Rengger’s particular defense of anti-Pelagianism. The suggested alternative, the article argues, provides us with a more coherent theory of peace and a way out of existing dead ends

Agency (philosophy · Critical theory · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Relation (database · Skepticism · Social science · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance

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