Emancipation Games in the International Relations

Ongoing Theoretical Seminar „Challenges to Representative Democracy Today”, organized by the Human and Social Studies Foundation – Sofia.

Lecture: Emancipation Games in the International Relations

Language: Bulgarian

Lecturer: Assistant Professor Dr. Christo Gyoshev, New Bulgarian University

Moderator: Associate Professor Dr. Dimitar Vatsov, HSSF/ NBU

Annotation of the Lecture:

The topic of this seminar is the notion of moral “neutrality” in the philosophical reflections on principles of international relations. Many among the interpretations rest on the understanding that the problem of neutrality depends primarily on the availability of a universal value framework (or the lack thereof), independent from the real process of political interaction. Neutrality is then seen much the same way as in any liberal state, and the context of international relations is being represented as if it is an extended sphere of validity of liberal-democratic values. Although such interpretation seems like the most reasonable approach in accordance with contemporary politics of human rights, it is not adequate to the basic structure, and recent global development of international  relations, which are more appropriate to be described as “emancipation games”. If this is the case however, we must face the question: to dispense with the notion of moral neutrality, or to reshape its meaning?

Hristo Gyoshev has Ph.D. in philosophy and is assistant professor in New Bulgarian University. His research  interests are in the contemporary political thought, the history of philosophy, and German idealism.