Professor Jason Ralph
- Position: Professor of International Relations
- Areas of expertise: International Society; Global Governance and the UN; Responsibility to Protect; Foreign Policy and "Global Britain"; Pragmatism and Constructivist IR theory.
- Email: J.G.Ralph@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 4429
- Location: 13.42 Social Sciences Building
- Website: European Centre for R2P | Twitter | Googlescholar | ORCID | White Rose
Profile
Jason Ralph is Professor of International Relations and former Head of the School of Politics and International Studies. He is also Honorary Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland. He is author of three books including America’s War on Terror (OUP 2013) and Defending the Society of States (OUP 2007).
His most recent work is on the Responsibility to Protect and international society, including “What Should be Done? Pragmatic Constructivist Ethics and the Responsibility to Protect” International Organization 2018, and (with Jess Gifkins) ‘The purpose of UN Security Council Practice. Contesting Competence Claims in the Normative context created by the Responsibility to Protect”, which was awarded best article to be published by the European Journal of International Relations in 2017.
He has been the recipient of research awards from the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, Research Councils UK, and the European Union, including a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship 2014-2016. His work during this fellowship was nominated for a Marie Curie Prize Award in the area of “contributing to society”. Central to this was his role as a founding director of the European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, which is based at the University of Leeds.
Responsibilities
- Co-Editor European Journal of International Security
- Honorary Professor, University of Queensland
Research interests
Professor Ralph is working on a book project called “On Global Learning. Pragmatic Constructivism, International Practice and the challenge of Global Governance”. The book answers three questions: to answer three questions: (1) what can classical Pragmatism bring to debates in IR, including those centered on the perennial question of how norms, practices and interests interact to influence international society and its practitioners? (2) How, if at all, should international practices and practitioners adapt in the face of pressing global security, climate and health challenges? (3) Given the Pragmatist answer to these first two questions, what normative conclusions can we come to about actual practice in contemporary international society?
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Pragmatism and the ‘New Constructivism’
Pragmatism and Global Learning
In From the Margins. Pragmatism and International Relations
Beyond Paradigms and the Theoretical Impasse
Extrapolating from History
Pragmatism as an Analytical and Normative Framework
Pragmatic Constructivism, IR and Global Learning. A Chapter Outline
Part One
Chapter 2 – Norms and Practice
New Constructivism / Pragmatic Constructivism
Finding normativity in and through experimental practice
The inclusive community of deliberative inquiry and society’s ‘stock of learning’
The logic of arguing and a theory of contestation
Let’s argue! But for (or from) what?
Conclusion
Chapter 3 – Habit, Habitus and Conscientious Reflection
IR Practice Theory and Classical Pragmatism
Habit, intuition and conscientious reflection
Ends, means and ‘virtuoso’ performances
Dewey’s ‘pedagogic creed’ and a theory of learning
Conclusion
Chapter 4 – Learning, Democracy and the Realist critique
Classical Pragmatism, Realism and democratic politics
Material change and the national interest
Reducing our ‘vulnerability to tragedy’
Pragmatism, Realism, Prudence and Learning
Conclusion
Chapter 5 – Pragmatic Constructivism and the challenge of Global Governance
International Relations, globalization and the ‘eclipse’ of the public
Communities of practice and the ‘software’ of global governance
Publically oriented communities of practice: a Pragmatist ‘Vocation’
Inclusionary reflexivity and deliberative practical judgement: two tests for communities of practice
Conclusion
Part Two
Chapter 6 – International practice and global security
Sovereignty, intervention and R2P practices
Assessing the UN Security Council as a community of practice
R2P skepticism and the Pragmatist Vocation
Nuclear atrocity prevention
Conclusion
Chapter 7 – International practice and climate change
Assessing the IPCC as a community of practice
Assessing the COP as a community of practice
Pragmatism in Paris and the view from Glasgow
Nationalism to realize nationally determined targets?
Conclusion
Chapter 8 – International practice and global health
Assessing the WHO as a community of disease control practice
Assessing the PHEIC community of practice. Lessons from the pandemic
Global health publics and intellectual property practices
The practical value of a public health treaty
Conclusion
Chapter 9 – Conclusion. American Pragmatism and Global IR
American Pragmatism and Pragmatic Constructivism
Pragmatism, Relationalism and Confucianism
Thoughts on future research
Professor has also contributed a called ‘Norms, Normativity and Pragmatist Justification. Advancing the ‘third move’ in Norm Studies’, to a forthcoming book edited by Phil Orchard and Antje Wiener:
Abstract: My aim in this chapter is to contribute to what the volume calls the ‘third move’ in IR norm studies, which explicitly addresses the legitimacy of the norm being studied as well as its influence on practice. To do this I build on the work of those who point to the relevance of classical American Pragmatism, which considers how we know that what we are doing is appropriate once we realize that norms are the product of social and historical practices rather than abstract moral foundations. I trace the Pragmatist’s commitment to deliberative inquiry through the ideas of Charles Peirce and John Dewey and relate it to Antje Wiener’s arguments that normativity is sustained through proactive contestation, or the practice of critically engaging norms. While there are overlaps between the two approaches, I argue that Deweyan Pragmatism in particular can help us understand when it is appropriate to defend a norm against contestation. It does this by drawing on what Dewey called a ‘stock of learning’, which we might understand as the background knowledge that has epistemic authority because it is the product of a deliberative and inclusive process of inquiry. I develop this argument with reference to debates within Pragmatist philosophy before applying it to offer a preliminary assessment of global health norms.
Keywords: norms, normativity, Pragmatism, Peirce, Dewey, democracy, epistemic authority, learning
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>
Student education
Professor Ralph teaches on the following modules:
- International Politics
- Theoretical Approaches to IR
- Diplomatic Practice
- Responsibility to Protect
Research groups and institutes
- European Centre for Responsibility to Protect