Publication

Today’s IR in its many variants is still, very much, a western social science. The claims it makes are however of universal purport. In his work, Amitav Acharya tries to undercut the problem of Euro- and America-centric biases by amending western IR theorizing with subaltern views on international politics. If IR theory is to remain relevant throughout the 21st century, Acharya argues, it needs to draw in the variety of pathways and experiences from outside the western world. In this talk, he discusses 'subaltern universalisms', how we can understand the international politics of ASEAN, and the importance of the Bhagavad Gita for IR theory.