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Research seminar

From Libya to Venezuela: conceptual limitations in international relations

Europe in the World Research Seminar Series

Add to calendar 2021-04-08 15:00 2021-04-08 16:00 Europe/Rome From Libya to Venezuela: conceptual limitations in international relations Online Zoom YYYY-MM-DD
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Scheduled dates

Apr 08 2021

15:00 - 16:00 CEST

Online, Zoom

Organised by

Max Weber Fellow Matteo Capasso, examines the historical sociopolitical and economic foundations of Libya and Venezeula to challenge the mainstream opinions and 'themes' used in traditional media when analysing those states.
When analysing the Libyan Arab al-Jamahiriyah and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, mainstream analyses in International Relations and International Political Economy have a tendency to rely on three main ‘theses’ (authoritarian, rentier, rogue). In this talk, Capasso examines how these prevalent concepts simplify the historical socio-political formations of these states, as well as the extent to which those terms continue to set the frame to comprehend the nature of their current socio-economic crises. Capasso argues that the uncritical reliance on these concepts hardens into a one-size-fits-all vision of international (in)security. On the one hand, it internalises the causes of war and conflict within these countries, de-linking them from the political economy of confrontations vis-à-vis the US-led capitalist global order. On the other, it forecloses possibilities for alternative paths to development, such as those emerging from – and grounded in – a global South context.

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