Description
Distance is needed to critique social and political phenomena that comprise global politics and to critique oneself; one must be able to dissociate oneself (to at least some degree) from social structures, and our subjectivities, so as to reflect on them (and ideally, thereby move towards changing them). Yet, this paper argues that there are also instances where distance does not support critique. Specially, I focus on the ethics of care as a theory which reveals how fulfilling the scripts of patriarchy necessitates a loss of ‘voice,’ i.e., a loss of authentic self-connection that results in a warped separation of the self from the self. This loss of voice, I suggest, impedes our ability to speak authentically and connect with, listen to, and respond to others. More simply, here, the separation of self from self creates further separation from those with whom we are in relation. Distance in this instance works against critique: when we are constantly struggling with our own fragmentations and dissociations, we are distracted from struggling against the separations and fragmentations that are produced by social structures in world politics, from working together to critique and rebuild our global relations. Ultimately, the objective of this paper is to map some of the complex ways in which various distancings can play out, and how they can support or alternatively hinder the critical project in international relations.
