Curiosity, Criticality and Materiality

Abstract

In this chapter Mark B. Salter, current editor of Security Dialogue, discusses with Can E. Mutlu the meaning and significance of technology for International Relations in light of his eclectic work. Salter, perhaps best-known for his dynamic presentations and engaging intellectual approach and recently for the two-volume project Making Things International, traces his engagement with technology across a vast field of contributions ranging from civilization in international politics, the genealogy of the modern passport, and critical security studies, touching on Foucauldian and Bourdieusian notions. In the conversation, Salter reflects on the recent material turn in IR and the expansion of this as a significant research area within critical consciousness in IR, with more and more people working on materiality, science and technology studies, actor-network theory. He points to the importance of remembering that we are not the first generation to experience this kind of epochal change, and that emancipatory change happens through engagement, and how technology is shaping the encounter with the Other—reminding us that scholarship can and should start with curiosity and intuition.