The Anthropomorphic Fallacy in International Relations Theory and Practice

CEMA Working Paper No. 373

21 Pages Posted: 19 Aug 2008

See all articles by Carlos Escudé

Carlos Escudé

Universidad del CEMA - CEIEG; CONICET

Date Written: June 2008

Abstract

A headline of the Venezuelean daily El Nacionalista, published June 16, 2008, read: "Venezuela se nege a seguir de rodillas ante las pretensiones del gobierno norteamericano". A few weeks before, on May 8, president Hugo Chavez himself had said that Venezuela would not watch crossed-armed (Venezuela no se quedar de brazos cruzados) while Bolivia was driven into territorial desintegration by imperialist forces. The image of Venezuela with her arms crossed is one of slovenliness and negligence, whilst the image of it on its knees is humiliating. They both generate outrage and the need to set things right. This is only an example of the often unnoticed practical and theoretical consequences of the anthropomorphic language we all use when referring to states in terms of (for example) weak and strong actors who suffer, are honored, are humiliated, have pride and aspire to glory. This language obscures the fact that, oftentimes, when a weak state challenges a strong one at a great cost to itself, we are not witnessing an epic of courage (as might be the case when a weak individual challenges a strong one), but rather the sacrifice of the interests, welfare and sometimes even the lives of multitudes of poor people, to the vanity of their elite. The very fact that this is being obscured biases the value structure of international relations theory, which is not only not value-free, but often has totalitarian values unintendedly built into it.

Suggested Citation

Escudé, Carlos, The Anthropomorphic Fallacy in International Relations Theory and Practice (June 2008). CEMA Working Paper No. 373, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1157995 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1157995

Carlos Escudé (Contact Author)

Universidad del CEMA - CEIEG ( email )

1054 Buenos Aires
Argentina

HOME PAGE: http://www.cema.edu.ar/ceieg/

CONICET ( email )

Rivadavia 1917
Buenos Aires, Federal Capital C1033AAJ
Argentina

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
121
Abstract Views
803
Rank
417,254
PlumX Metrics