Marxism and the Origins of International Relations

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 1-24

3. The Benchmark Thinkers’ Impact on IR

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 25-57

4. Political Thought and Marxism

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 59-82

5. The Marxian Imprint on Early IR’s Understandings of Imperialism

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 83-106

6. A Distinctive and Overlooked Socialist IR Approach

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 107-131

7. Norman Angell and the Real First Great Debate

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 133-150

8. Conclusions

   • José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

   Pages 151-169

9. Back Matter

   Pages 171-175

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This book investigates to what extent and in what ways Marxist writings and precepts on imperialism informed the so-called idealist stage of International Relations (IR). Though the formative years of International Relations coincide with a vibrant period in Marxist political thought, Marxism is strikingly absent from the historiography of the discipline. Building on the work of revisionist scholars, the book reconstructs the writings of five benchmark IR thinkers. Villanueva analyzes the cases of John Hobson, Henry Brailsford, Leonard Woolf, Harold Laski and Norman Angell to explore the influence that Marxism played in their thinking, and in the “idealist years” of the discipline more generally. He ultimately demonstrates that, although Marxist thought has been neglected by mainstream IR disciplinary historians, it played a significant role in the discipline’s early development. As such, this book both challenges the exclusion of Marxist thought from the mainstream disciplinary histories of IR and contributes to a deeper understanding of the role it played in early 20^th century IR theory.

• Marxism
• International Relations
• Theory
• John Hobson
• Henry Brailsford
• Leonard Woolf
• Harold Laski
• Norman Angell
• Idealist
• Disciplinary history
• History of international thought
• 20th century

“Ricardo Villanueva’s new book is a timely addition to the IR literature. … Marxism and the origins of International Relations is relevant to those interested in the historiography of IR theory, as well as to a more general audience. Villanueva’s book fills a pressing gap in terms of how we narrate disciplinary beginnings and is a reminder that discipline’s intellectual history is still being written.” (Keith Smith, International Affairs, Vol. 98 (4), 2022)

• International Relations, Universidad del Mar, Oaxaca, Mexico

  José Ricardo Villanueva Lira

Jose Ricardo Villanueva Lira is Lecturer and Head of Department at the Institute of International Studies, Universidad del Mar, Mexico.​

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