Everyday Life in International Relations: a Theoretical Essay
Cultural Perspectives and International Relations Studies
2002 Volume 2002 Issue 129 Pages 29-43,L8
Details
2002 Volume 2002 Issue 129 Pages 29-43,L8
This paper addresses the theoretical significance of discourses on everyday life in international relations for IR studies. Strictly speaking, the concept “everyday life” is not an academic term that is utilized for analytical purposes. But it can be used in two ways even in academic discussions. One way is to direct us to a specific research project, and the other is to help us to find out missing points in a research design. We call the former a guiding concept, and the latter a “catalyst” concept.
The first section of the paper sums those discussions of a French historian, three Japanese social scientists (economic history, politics, and society), and a Japanese man of letter on the significance that the term “everyday life” conveys to academic discussions. The findings are: (a) the term has temporal and spatial dimensions, individually or collectively, (b) it is value-free, (c) it binds our mind or sets it free, depending upon the situations, and (d) the discussions, done by those five, are oriented toward two opposing directions (emancipation from it, and fixation on it).
The second section treats cases of research (mostly done by Japanese scholars) that address aspects of everyday life from the perspective of international relations. Those cases are classified into three categories: the North-South problem, the world system, and human security. All of those researches concern human security in a very broad sense. Interest in everyday life mainly guides us to projects of research on human security.
Finally, the paper probes the implications of feelings of everyday life for IR studies. The major subjects are everyday life as social experiences (overlooked and/or adhered to), its intermixture with extraordinary facts and feelings (mingling and/or perversion), and its interchangeability with them (distraction from or return to routines). Here the concept “everyday life” acts as a catalyst, with which we are able to improve academic discussions.
The concluding part makes a very brief summary of these discussions.
