L'International: The World's First International Journal and the Possibilities and Limits of International Studies

Abstract

AbstractL'International, a journal published in Paris in the 1840s that brought together an international team of intellectuals aiming to advance international studies, represents not only a forgotten milestone in the development of international studies but also provides an important case study shedding light on the challenges that need to be overcome in the development of international studies as a distinctive area of research. This article considers both the potential and the limits of the approach to international studies set out in L'International with a view to further understanding the potential and limits of international studies today. It elucidates four features of the approach taken in L'International pertinent to debates in today's discipline: (i) the boundaries of international studies; (ii) the nature of a scientific approach to the subject; (iii) the role of race, gender, and class; and (iv) the relationship between international studies and the policy sector. While its contributors were notable for putting forward a pluralist approach to the subject, their efforts were marred by their consideration of a limited set of interests.