Chris Brown

International relations theory : new normative approaches

Part 1 Cosmopolitan and communitarian international relations theory: cosmopolitan theory communitarian theory the intellectual context of contemporary international political philosophy. Part 2 Contemporary theory - force and justice: the moral basis of state autonomy the ethics of force international justice. Part 3 New challenges: critical and post-modern international theory.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Career Commitment and Decision-Making Process:

The relations between career decision-making self-efficacy, vocational exploration and commitment, and emotional intelligence were investigated. Furthermore, the extent to which sex moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and career decision-making self-efficacy and between emotional intelligence and vocational exploration and commitment was also examined. Findings revealed that emotional intelligence as measured by the Empathy, Utilization of Feelings, Handling Relationships, and Self-Control factors is positively related to career decision-making self-efficacy and that the Utilization of Feelings and Self-Control factors were inversely related to vocational exploration and commitment. Findings, however, failed to reveal sex as a moderator of the relationship between emotional intelligence and the career variables under investigation.

Universal human rights: a critique

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Battered Women's Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: Further Insights and Contributing Factors:

A sample of battered women were surveyed regarding their perceived career barriers, self-esteem, locus of control, work-role attitudes, and self-efficacy for making career decisions. In addition, an investigation of these variables with respect to the battered womans self-reported employment status was provided. Also included was an examination of battered womens beliefs about how the shelters could assist them in their career planning and implementation. Findings revealed that (a) unemployed battered women scored lower on career decision-making self-efficacy and endorsed a more traditional work role attitude as compared to employed battered women, (b) high self-esteem was related to greater self-efficacy for making career decisions, (c) an internal orientation was related to high self-esteem, and (d) higher perceptions of career barriers were related to an external expectancy. Further, self-esteem emerged as the most significant contributor to battered womens self-efficacy for career decision-making tasks. Battered women expressed assistance from shelters in finding secure employment and furthering their education.

Career Exploration and Self-Efficacy of High School Students: Are There Urban/Suburban Differences?

Career exploration and career decision-making self-efficacy differences between urban and suburban high school students were investigated. The relationship of career exploration to career decision-making self-efficacy was also explored. The findings suggested that urban students scored significantly higher on career exploration than their suburban counterparts. Additional findings revealed an interaction between ethnicity and setting such that minority urban students reported the greatest amount of confidence in their career decision-making skills. Findings also indicated that beliefs about exploratory behavior were a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy.

Self-Efficacy as a Determinant of Career Maturity in Urban and Rural High School Seniors

The relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity among 94 urban and rural high school seniors (51 urban, 43 rural) was investigated. Career maturity differences between urban and rural seniors were also explored. The findings suggested that the career development attitude variable was the most significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy for both rural and urban groups. Findings also indicated that rural seniors scored significantly higher on career development knowledge as compared to their urban peers.

The ‘Practice Turn’, Phronesis and Classical Realism: Towards a Phronetic International Political Theory?

The ‘practice turn’ in International Relations seems on the face of it to be a very promising development; generally associated with Bourdieu and Foucault, it can also be seen as linked to the Aristotelian notion of phronesis (prudence or practical wisdom) and to the classical realist virtue of ‘prudence’ (prudentia). There are family resemblances here, but also differences; for Aristotle and the realists, practical wisdom is associated more with the intellect, while the ‘practice turn’ places great emphasis on the role of habitual behaviour. Writers as diverse as Flyvbjerg and Macintyre have argued for a ‘phronetic social science’ as an alternative to neo-positivist conceptions of the role of the conduct of social enquiry – but the classical realists could argue that they have already provided a ‘phronetic international relations theory’ . Still, the implications of Aristotle’s comment that ‘prudent young people do not seem to be found’ need to be confronted. Is ‘practical wisdom’ something that can be achieved by study, or is it only achievable in the context of the kind of lived experience that few students of International Relations or International Political theory of whatever age can actually claim?

Taiwanese International Students: Acculturation Level and Vocational Identity

This study explored the relationship between acculturation level and vocational identity among 112 graduate and undergraduate Taiwanese international students attending two midwestern universities. The results revealed that Taiwanese international students who were older and who had a shorter length of U.S. residency were more likely to identify themselves as Asian. The results also indicated that Taiwanese international students who were older and who had a lower acculturation level had higher vocational identity.

The poverty of Grand Theory

The editors of the special issue, in their call for papers for this special issue, expressed a degree of disquiet at the current state of International Relations theory, but the situation is both better and worse than they suggest. On the one hand, in some areas of the discipline, there has been real progress over the last decade. The producers of liberal and realist International Relations theory may not have the kind of standing in the social/human sciences as the ‘Grand Theorists’ identified by Quentin Skinner in his seminal mid-1980s’ collection, but they have a great deal to say about how the world works, and the world would have been a better place over the last decade or so if more notice had been taken of what they did say. On the other hand, the range of late modern theorists who brought some of Skinner’s Grand Theorists into the reckoning in the 1980s have, in the main, failed to deliver on the promises made in that decade. The state of International Relations theory in this neck of the woods is indeed a cause for concern; there is a pressing need for ‘critical problem-solving’ theory, that is, theory that relates directly to real-world problems but approaches them from the perspective of the underdog.

The construction of a ‘realistic utopia’: John Rawls and international political theory

‘The limits of the possible in moral matters are less narrow than we think. It is our weaknesses, our vices, our prejudices that shrink them.’ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract Book II, Chapter 12.2 [cited from John Rawls The Law of Peoples , p. 7] After presenting a brief sketch of John Rawlss theory of justice, his international political theory is outlined and evaluated. Rawls develops a classification of ‘peoples’ based on whether or not they are ‘well-ordered’. The Law of Peoples covers ‘liberal’ and ‘decent’ peoples who adhere to minimum standards of human rights and are not aggressive in their international relations. This is in the realm of ‘ideal’ theory; ‘non-ideal’ theory must cope also with societies that are not well-ordered, such as outlaw states and burdened societies. The long-term aim is that all should be part of a confederation of decent peoples. Rawlss theory has been criticized by cosmopolitan liberals for its communitarian tendencies, but has much to offer scholars of international relations, including a systematic basis for classifying states, a helpful discussion of the distinction between reasonableness and rationality, and a powerful restatement of the importance of utopian thinking in international relations.