A forsaken and foreclosed utopia: Rousseau and international relations. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Falaky, Fayçal
• Is Part Of: European journal of political theory. Volume 15:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 61
• Page End: 76
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- international relations -- confederations -- realism -- political philosophy; Political science -- Periodicals; Political science -- Europe -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1474885114543570
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-8851

Abstract

In the field of international relations, Rousseau is generally considered an antiutopian and an exponent of the realist tradition. This view is based on his distrust of alliances and peace plans but also on the fact that he never offered any solution to how to lastingly ban war from the international scene. In this article, I argue instead that Rousseau's failure to propose any solutions in international politics lies rather in the utopian nature of his political philosophy. Rousseau intended to find remedies to the question of international law; if he never articulated them, it is, I submit, because the mere discussion of international relations would have undermined the lack of relationality which characterizes his model Republic. By envisioning the ideal state as self-sufficient and isolated (i.e. in the image of the unsociable man in the state of nature), Rousseau renders impractical the aspiration he had of resolving the question of sociability between states.