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The Utopian International Society and its Enemies
Unformatted Document Text:  1 The Utopian International Society and its Enemies Dr Ian Hall Senior Lecturer in International Politics School of History and Politics University of Adelaide North Terrace Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia Tel: +61 (0) 8303 7645 Email:  christopher.i.## email not listed ## Paper for International Studies Association San Francisco, 2008 NOT FOR CITATION WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION Abstract:No mode of political thinking is more disparaged in the study of international relations as utopianism. This paper examines the accusations of its critics and questions their validity. It finds that our rejection of utopianism is  bound to significant misunderstandings about that mode of thought and to dubious contentions about the sources of violence and conflict in international politics. Utopianism, in its classic form, is not best viewed, as it has been  by international theorists, either as a natural tendency of mind that demands limitation or as a threat to political stability and international security. Rather, this paper argues, Thomas More’s  Utopia – and indeed many of the  utopian texts that follow – present powerful and nuanced mode of political criticism and argument that challenges the tragic vision underpinning both realist and liberal theory in the field.

Authors: Hall, Ian.
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1
The Utopian International Society and its Enemies
Dr Ian Hall
Senior Lecturer in International Politics
School of History and Politics
University of Adelaide
North Terrace
Adelaide, SA 5005
Australia
Tel: +61 (0) 8303 7645
Email: 
Paper for International Studies Association
San Francisco, 2008
NOT FOR CITATION WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION
Abstract:
No mode of political thinking is more disparaged in the study of international relations as utopianism. This paper 
examines the accusations of its critics and questions their validity. It finds that our rejection of utopianism is 
bound to significant misunderstandings about that mode of thought and to dubious contentions about the sources 
of violence and conflict in international politics. Utopianism, in its classic form, is not best viewed, as it has been 
by international theorists, either as a natural tendency of mind that demands limitation or as a threat to political 
stability and international security. Rather, this paper argues, Thomas More’s 
Utopia – and indeed many of the 
utopian texts that follow – present powerful and nuanced mode of political criticism and argument that challenges 
the tragic vision underpinning both realist and liberal theory in the field.


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