Resisting the canon: critique,abolition and doing epistemic justice in reading the history of international thought

Abstract

The paper proceeds in two main sections. First, it sketches out the nature of critique as a de-canonising practice within IR theory and how critique has itself become the target of resistance in recent strands of feminist and decolonial inspired abolitionist thinking. Second, it explores the politics of challenging the canon drawing on the example of the WHIT project, which I suggest is better captured using the language of epistemic justice than either critique or abolition. In conclusion, it draws out the lessons of this analysis for understandings of the ethos and practice of resisting the canon.