POLS 2940 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Critical Theory, World War I, French Revolution

• School: York University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2940
• Professor: Sandra Whitworth

Document Summary

-wrap up a few final comments on theory from last class: -to this point in the course: have set out the theoretical debates that will serve as the organizing framework for the rest of the course: each issue we discuss will touch on how the different theories interpret them. -everyone writing or speaking about issues of global politics is doing so from the position of a theoretical perspective, or some combination of perspectives. -no one is just "giving you the facts" -recognizing an author"s or commentator"s theoretical perspective is an important skill, and one that will help you decide whether or not you are persuaded by any particular argument or account of global politics that you encounter. -then to history of states, states systems, empires (a very quick jaunt through several hundred years of history ) -competing accounts of history, first an account given by realists, and then will look at the critiques raised by liberal pluralists and critical theorists.