International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction

by Cynthia Weber

International Relations A Critical Introduction is an innovative new textbook, which introduces students to the main theories in International Relations. It also deconstructs each theory allowing students not only to understand them, but also to critically engage with the assumptions and myths that underpin them. It does this by using five familiar films as tools for first understanding each theory and then for understanding the myths that make them so persuasive for some people.
Key features of this textbook
* coverage of the main theories and traditions Realism & Neo-realism; Idealism and Neo-idealism; Liberalism; Constructivism; Postmodernism; Gender; Globalisation and the 'End of History'
* innovative use of narratives from five famous films that students will be familiar Lord of the Flies; Independence Day; Wag the Dog; Fatal Attraction; and The Truman Show
* clearly written, providing students with boxed key concepts, guides to further reading and thinking.
This breakthrough textbook has been designed to unravel the complexities of International Relations theory in a way that allows students a clearer idea of how the theories work and some of the myths that are associated with them.

Genres: International Relations, Politics, Nonfiction, Academic, School, Political Science

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Blueberry cheese cake · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a student of International Relation, you will love this book. It tells us about critical theory of international relation in a fun way. Weber use movies as a tool to explain the theories of international relation. From movies, such as Lords of The Fly, The Truman Show, Independence Day, Wag The Dog, Fatal Attraction, we can see the weaknesses of the theories such as Realism, Liberalism, International Society, Constructivism, and Feminism. Weber use some dialogues from the movies too to show the failure of those theories..

Well, this book makes learning international theories become a fun thing..

Happy reading friends!!!

[Peach P 📆📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

อธิบายดีมาก เข้าใจง่าย ส่วนมากเป็นir theoryกระแสหลัก ที่สนุกคือคำอธิบายมันค่อนข้างcolourful มีเปรียบเทียบกับหนังด้วย

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read, for all of us who's studying politics but got their mindset stuck on anarchy, war, and other classic IR concepts! Anarchy is just a state of mind, people!

[sube · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book tries to explain various theories of international relations via movies - I do not think this was particularly helpeful, so I mostly skipped the sections. The rest of the book was *okay*, however the later chapters went a bit off the rails, especially when it focused al ot on Gore's position on enviromentalism, which seems a bit useless. I suppose, it is a product of its time, when that was more talked about.

Nonetheless, it helped me understand some basics of IR, as well as gives me a lot of further reading - so that is alright. However, there are probably better introductions.

[MarieMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a helpful book when I first started my studies in International studies. I even ended up using one of the examples in this book in one of my essays.

[Azel Bimarajasa]

damn. good read. a bit complex tho.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book, which I admire for taking some risks, but which also left me with a feeling of persistent bewilderment.

Ostensibly it's a textbook about International Relations, but it's also a textbook which somehow manages to shoe-horn in (what I would estimate to be) about 100 pages of film discussion, primarily in the form of detailed explanations of particular scenes and plot points from various 90s movies. I guess that Weber (nice name for a sociologist, btw!) did this to try to make IR Theory more interesting and accessible for students, but most of the film material seemed to be, at best, very loosely connected to the theory at hand. For example, I don't think that the Truman Show is going to help me understand neomarxist dialectics, nor do I think that Fatal Attraction is a particularly good analogy for feminist approaches to IR. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but the constant digressions into the plots of 25 year-old films just left me confused, and did nothing to aid my understanding of (or appreciation for) the theories presented.

On a positive note, when the author sticks to just the relevant material, the text is clearly written and easy to understand, and she does a good job of rendering occasionally abstruse theorising into simple language. Worth looking at if you want to see a text-book pushing the boundaries a little bit, but it misses the mark a little too frequently for me to recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Disclaimer: review based on the 3rd Edition of the text.]

[Bookworm Amir · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first International Relations textbook I ever read, and a real game changer for me as it REALLY ives me the key, and makes me understand in nearly complete comprehensiveness the key theories of mainstream IR.

The best part of the this book are the examples of the film to the theory. It deepens and widens your understanding - isn't it cool, after having read aout Feminist theories in IR, we watch Femme Fatale, which explains the Feminist theories in IR also? Its almost similar to having a bit of candy after finishing some work.

I will say this is a must read for students doing International Relations.

Of course some of the thoughts into the text was with incomplete examples. But then again, this explains the key theories. Besides that they have e suggested reading list, A + for that as well!

And who knew Wall - E could be a part of International Relations environmental theory?

[Mrdavidpeat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an excellent introduction to the broad trends of international relations theory. Beyond that, however, it sought to analyse the 'metanarrative' of IR theory itself and is quite compelling in its analysis.

By analysing each 'grand' (and less grand) theory of IR through pop culture (usually a film is taken as a case study) it highlights how this theory sees the world, what assumptions underpin this, and some critical perspectives on it.

I would not recommend it for those wanting a dry, traditionally didactic rundown of contemporary IR theory, the author tends to very sympathetic to broader cultural theory analyses (which I personally find compelling but can imagine others finding exasperating).

Highly recommended with the above caveat.

[Nanto]

provokasi ttg buku ini menarik. terutama dikaitkannya film truman's show dan eas is east. tambah menarik liat ulasan singkat pembaca goodreads lain.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good introduction to theory in IR. Author uses movies to illustrate how the theory works. I wish there was more "real world" explanations of how theory works, but it's a good start.

[Mir'za · Rating 5 out of 5]

superb and fun read. Clears concepts beautifully in a way that is not at all boring

[Adan Mirza · Rating 5 out of 5]

superb and fun read. Clears concepts beautifully in a way that is not at all boring