From networks to domesticity - metaphors in international political thought

Abstract

International systems as new medievalism or as complicated decentralized networks, geopolitics as a Gordian knot, Brexit as a long drawn-out divorce - which heuristic value and which political focus do such metaphors and imageries of international politics convey? The panel will explore the role of metaphors for international dynamics from a historical-comparative point of view. The shared analytical lens of all papers is the not merely ornamental, but interpretive and affective impact of metaphors in political communication: Be it in the design of theoretical frameworks, debate among experts or political actors, or a broader pluralist discussion around political goals and norms in a democratic public - metaphors (re-)direct analysis and shape ideas of what is occuring and what is possible. The international realm is particularly amenable to such vivid linguistic interpretation: The complexitiy and the dynamic and contested character of international relations is especially open to narrative, visual, and linguistic re-shaping, the forms and effects of which are the subject of the analysis in this panel.

Title	Details
New Medievalism as Metaphorical Conceptualization of International Order and Heuristic Device Based on Historical Analogy	View Paper Details
Networks in International Politics – where do they come from where should they go?	View Paper Details
Should I stay or should I go? Metaphors of federal disintegration	View Paper Details