Thinkers of the Tenty Years' Crisis Inter-War Idealism Reassessed [Hardcover]

This book reassesses the contribution to international thought of some of the most important thinkers of the inter-war period. It takes as its starting point E.H. Carr's famous critique which, more than any other work, established the reputation of the period as the utopian or idealist phase of international relations theorizing. This characterization of inter-war thought is scrutinized through ten detailed studies of such writers as Norman Angell, J.A. Hobson, J.M. Keynes, David Mitrany, and Alfred Zimmern. The studies demonstrate the diversity of perspectives within so-called idealism and call into question the descriptive and analytical value of the entire notion. It is concluded that idealism is an overly general term, useful for scoring debating points rather than providing a helpful category for analysis.