Interrogating whiteness in International Relations: Critical Examinations of Race and Racialised Power

Abstract

The dynamics of knowledge production in the discipline of international relations (IR) frequently reproduce problematic and outdated idea(l)s about what counts as ‘proper’ scholarship, with positivist research setting the standard for legitimacy. This essay challenges the racialised hierarchies that reproduce unreflective endorsement of these (white, Western) ‘standards’ of knowledge production. Our review begins with an elaboration of epistemic whiteness as the foundation for a critical examination of race and racialised power in the discipline. We provide a timely and necessary review of the dynamics of racialised power in IR to expand the parameters of debates about race, racism, and coloniality. We introduce the concepts of Indigeneity and intersectionality as tools we can use to destabilise whiteness in the discipline. We conclude our discussion by showing how these two concepts can enable potentially transformative re-imaginings of IR, as we hope to foster new and plural ways of thinking world politics otherwise.