Description
The discourses of International Ethics continues to grapple with the problem of distance. In this chapter I return to the question of how to evoke an interest and attention in the plight of others over distance. I invoke, from the outset, a relational framework and take time to unpack what a relational international ethic looks like paying heed to the ongoing conversation of the pluriverse. I map out the details of a relational global ethic to develop two ideas, emotional resonance and intimacy. I wonder at the role of emotional resonance in sparking interest, over time, space and distance. Yet I also acknowledge that emotional resonance, unsupported, cannot be solely responsible for the generation of an interest in the plight of others. To build on this idea I introduce the possibility of intimacy. In this chapter I explore both the positive side of intimacy as well as its darker sides to understand how it might partner with an account of emotional resonance that matters to global ethics. I suggest that the timing of a discussion of intimacy is timely in light of the conversations of ‘the everyday’ and ‘lived experience’ that have emerged within the discipline of International Relations in general, but more specifically, in the conversations of emotions and IR as well. This chapter is part of a wider project that examines the role of stories, the possibility of storytelling, to bridge the local and the global in the experience of global migration.
