The IR That Dare Not Speak Its Name: The French Extreme (and Not so Extreme) Right in the 1930s and Its Lessons from and to the History of Thought in International Relations

Abstract

French thinking about international relations has been neglected by most mainstream scholars of the recent period. For example, most “realist” thinkers about “order” or power politics will tend to nod in the direction of Raymond Aron and his Paix et guerre entre les Nations (Aron 1962), but then run out of further suggestions for study. Even in France, “les relations internationales” are often seen as an “Anglo-Saxon” subject, and some of its major interpreters often see their task as one of communicating this subject to a francophone audience. There are, of course, some very original thinkers about international relations in France (including Badie 2012, 2013; Smouts and Devin 2011), and post-positivist International Relations (IR) that can be said to have been thoroughly invaded by francophone writers and thinkers—although many of those who do so would not see themselves as scholars of the discipline of IR per se. The contribution that these scholars make to postcolonial literature, ideas such as “bio-politics” and the like is immense.