International Political Theory Research Articles

The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain ed. by Eduardo Olid Guerrero, and Esther Fernández

Reviewed by: The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain ed. by Eduardo Olid Guerrero, and Esther Fernández Noelia Cirnigliaro Olid Guerrero, Eduardo, and Esther Fernández, eds. The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain. Foreword by Susan Doran. U of Nebraska P, 2019. 409 pp. The collection of essays edited by Eduardo Olid Guerrero and Esther Fernández entitled The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain begins with a striking question posed by Susan Doran in her forward to the book: "Who would think there was any more to say about the image of Queen Elizabeth I? Over the past thirty years or more, historians and literary scholars from Britain and America, like myself, have re-examined her portraits, deconstructed her writings and speeches, and analyzed contemporary works of praise and criticism to reveal a more nuanced image than that originally presented by the three heavyweights, Elkin Calhoun Wilson, Roy Strong and Frances Yates" (xi). Happily, there is a however that precedes the second paragraph of the forward. Doran acknowledges that most scholarship on the relations between Spain and Britain in the Early Modern period has been Anglocentric, focusing mainly on the perspectives that contextualize Elizabeth I's image in the realm of Anglo-Saxon cultural and historical archives, even those works dealing with the reception of the Queen's image outside the island. Esther Fernández and Eduardo Olid Guerrero, the editors of this beautifully illustrated volume, seem to have rightly identified such slant in the scholarship and, together with nine other contributors, are set to remediate it. Put simply, the introduction by Olid Guerrero and the other ten essays (including one by his co-editor Fernández) strive to diversify the scholarship around Elizabeth Tudor, offering a series of answers to three key questions: first, how the Elizabethan political and iconographic strategies were seen from the viewpoint of the Spanish Monarchy, its colonies, and its allies; second, how influential the presence of Spain was in Elizabeth I's policies and in the representation of her public [End Page 309] image; and finally, in which ways had or hadn't her image changed once she passed away and her legacy in Spain became a legend. In other words, and based on these central inquiries, the research perspectives and methodologies that the essays open up could be grouped under theories of reception and semiology; international political theories and theories of self-fashioning, and finally—although not explicitly mentioned in the book—, a Warburg-like approach to the concept of the afterlife of images that reminds us of the iconographic notion of the Pathosformel. The organization of the volume is impeccable because it offers expert scholars or the lay curious readers a handful of answers to those questions in the three parts that organize the volume. There are several premises in this collection of essays as a whole, the main one being that there are shifts and transformations in the relationship between Protestant England and Catholic Spain and their allies during and after Elizabeth's life. Regarding the transformation, Olid Guerrero and Magdalena de Pazzis Pi Corrales pinpoint the principal changes and modifications (in the introduction and the opening chapter, respectively) that would lead from a status of political friendship between the nations to one of disdain, enmity, and aversion. These authors remind us of that short-lived period of grace and friendship of nations when Philip II assisted Elizabeth in 1554 as she was imprisoned for accusations of treason. And we are also reminded that, about five years later, he proposed marriage to Elizabeth soon after her half-sister and the Queen Consort of Spain, Mary Tudor, had died. These important diplomatic moves aimed at strengthening the restoration of Catholicism in England mark a period in which bilateral relationships between Tudor England and Hapsburg Spain were somewhat framed in the potential of friendship, mutual respect, and alliance. But Elizabeth's refusal to marry and, of course, England's reaffirmation of Protestantism gave rise to a negative pamphlet-driven image of Gloriana in Spanish territories, one tainted and shaped by notions of religious heresy, political unfitness, and the sheer irrationality and monstrosity of the...

On the Persistence of the Japanese "History Problem": Historicism and the International Politics of History by Hitomi Koyama

Reviewed by: On the Persistence of the Japanese "History Problem": Historicism and the International Politics of History by Hitomi Koyama Hiro Saito (bio) On the Persistence of the Japanese "History Problem": Historicism and the International Politics of History. By Hitomi Koyama. Routledge, London, 2018. x, 157 pages. $155.00, cloth; $57.95, E-book. This book makes a unique contribution to the existing research on the socalled history problem in East Asia. Such uniqueness lies in the book's focus on different strands of "historicism" as the horizon of the international politics of history. Put another way, while existing research has examined the international politics of history mostly in the empirical dimension—how Japan, South Korea, China, and other relevant countries constructed and advanced their own versions of history in international relations—this book introduces a reflexive approach to critically probe the foundational assumptions of international politics itself. This novelty stems, perhaps in no small part, from Hitomi Koyama's intellectual background that combines international relations and political theory. With this unique combination of the international politics of history and the philosophy of history, the book promises to shed new light on "the persistence of the Japanese 'history problem.'" Specifically, the book thematizes and problematizes the idea of "the sovereign subject of history" that has been integral to the international politics of history. Koyama makes this analytical gambit because she believes that a historical examination of how the Japanese state and citizens grappled with the legacy of Japan's past wrongdoings is insufficient for understanding the persistence of the history problem; rather, this analytical task requires a genealogical investigation of how the Japanese state and citizens have understood "history" itself—and Japan's place in it—ever since they had embarked on "modernization" in the late nineteenth century. From this genealogical perspective, the persistence of the history problem can be understood to be ultimately inherent in the normative assumption built into the international politics of history: for Japan to be able to achieve reconciliation with Korean, Chinese, and other victims of its past wrongdoings, it should be first constituted as the sovereign subject of history, an "agent-actor" capable of taking its own actions on the stage of world history dominated by the "West" as well as taking responsibility for its past actions vis-à-vis the call of the "Asian" other. In reality, however, Japan has never been fully constituted as a unified agent-actor but always remained a divided one, fractured with internal disagreements and permeated with the perception of being the victim, at least partially, of external historical circumstances. [End Page 514] In fact, if being the sovereign subject of history is a normative requirement for reconciliation, it will inevitably create an impasse for any actor, whether a state or an individual, because such a requirement can never be empirically fulfilled. The idea of the sovereign state actor, for example, is the "organized hypocrisy" of international relations, as Stephen Krasner bluntly put it. The idea of the sovereign individual actor also begins to unravel once the distributed and networked nature of agency is recognized in light of science and technology studies. In this sense, the "sovereign subject of history" can be said to constitute the "condition of possibility and impossibility" of the international politics of history à la Jacques Derrida's paradoxical formulation. This is why the book concludes that interrogating the very idea of the sovereign subject of history may help the stakeholders in the history problem see through the impasse in which they have been trapped—and possibly reframe the problem itself in search of a new resolution. Although I greatly appreciate the book's unique perspective on the ongoing debate on the history problem, I also think it falls short of fully articulating the theoretical promise of combining the international politics of history and the philosophy of history. On the one hand, the book's analysis of the international politics of history is not international enough, for it focuses mostly on domestic politics and debates inside Japan, only minimally examining Japan's relations with South Korea, China, and other relevant countries as a cause of the history problem. On the other hand, its philosophical reflection on...

Neo-Kantian Cosmopolitanism and International Law: Modest Practicality?

AbstractThis article explores the practical approach to global justice advocated by the cosmopolitan political theorists Pogge, Beitz and Buchanan. Using a comparative exposition it outlines their reliance on international law and on human rights law in particular. The essay explores the neo-Kantian influence on the practical approach and offers an original critique of this trend in contemporary international political theory.

Offensive versus Defensive Realism

This article approaches Russia’s strategy of countering the United States indirectly by way of intermediate states. It is concerned with the reasons why Russia decided to engage in the Syrian conflict in 2015 and, from this perspective, the real goals of Russia’s policy in the region. These questions cannot be considered without taking account of how they are linked with the all-out confrontation between Russia and the West in Ukraine. The Syrian conflict merely represents an external platform for Russia in countering the United States. Russia is testing her own power to force the United States out of Syria and seeks any opportunity to demonstrate American vulnerability. There is a triangle of interests for the key regional actors—Turkey, Iran, and Russia—that oppose US interests. The rising confrontation with Washington in Syria triggered Moscow to seek ways of using other potential rivals of the United States, given that there are numerous areas of tension and conflict with Washington beyond the Middle East. The author’s analysis of the actors’ behavior is based on the “security dilemma” and the “balance of power” approaches. There are well-known disputes between “defensive” and “offensive” realism in the theory of international politics concerning which of these approaches is more reliable and reasonable when considering costs and results, as well as the risk of tensions spiraling out of control (“security spiral”). The aim of this research is to make a comparison between America’s offensive strategy with Russia’s defensive approach and evaluate the efficiency of both policies. Following a particular scholarly approach, this article presumes that Moscow acquires power via the indirect, “low-cost strategies,” using any opportunity available to counterbalance US power via other countries. It is concluded that offensive or defensive behavior depends on the situation and available resources. The United States has sufficient resources to implement an offensive strategy, and Washington may raise the stakes in confrontation. Russia’s defense approach of a “buck-passing” strategy is more efficient, but Moscow suffers from a lack of resources and chooses indirect countering, using any means necessary to counterbalance US power in Syria and beyond.

Outer space and neo-colonial injustice

PurposeRecent developments in US rhetoric and policy advocating the militarisation and marketisation of outer space challenge the global commons values and regimes that developed partly in response to decolonisation. These regimes embodied aspirations to post-colonial distributive justice, as well as to international management for peaceful purposes. The purpose of this paper is to argue that global commons values should be defended against these challenges in order to avoid the risk of exporting colonial legacies of injustice into outer space.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is an exercise in normative International Political Theory and so develops normative arguments by drawing on approaches in political theory and international law.FindingsThis paper demonstrates that the commons values endorsed in the aftermath of colonialism retain their relevance in a global politics that remains structured by post-colonial power relations. This paper also demonstrates that these commons values have evolved and found expression in central elements of international law, persisting as resources to be drawn on in normative argument.Originality/valueThis study places recent moves to assert US hegemony in space in the context of persistent post-colonial power relations and develops novel arguments in renewed support of commons values.

The Need for Theory: International Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations Study Group on the Theory of International Relations, 1953–1954

While all of the social sciences have been interested in theory, the disciplinary history of International Relations (IR) has been, in many ways, a story of a continuous, yet frustrating, attempt to formulate an all-encompassing theory of international. This attempt formed a crucial context for the recently rediscovered the Council on Foreign Relations Study Group on the Theory of International Relations 1953–1954. This article reconstruct the post-World War Two disciplinary history of International Relations. In the 1940s, the field faced a profound identity crisis. It was in this context that interest began to be directed at developing a theory of international politics. Increasingly, theory was viewed as the solution to the problems that the field was facing. The article describes these developments and relates them to the deliberations of the Council on Foreign Relations Study Group.

Cultures of anarchy: Images of Russia in the narrative of Norwegian mainstream news media during the Ukraine crisis 2014

This article examines the role of the news media through a case study of the narratives about the 2014 Ukraine crisis in three major Norwegian newspapers. The conflict also contained a ‘war’ between competing strategic narratives from the involved actors, with a potential for cross-national cascades into the Norwegian narrative. The authors’ focus is on the framing of Russia during the most dramatic month of March 2014. They applied the images related to Wendt’s cultures of anarchy (see Social Theory of International Politics, 1999) to classify the framing of Russia. The Norwegian media narrative was relatively consistent in framing Russia as choosing a path leading away from being a rival of Norway and the West, towards becoming their enemy. This was close to the narrative of the Norwegian government and in clear opposition to the Russian narrative. While this supports Hoskins and O’Loughlin’s ‘arrested war’ hypothesis (published in Information, Communication & Society, 2015), it also raises questions about professional media norms.

Potentiality, political protest and constituent power: A response to the special issue

Emergent forms of political protest and constitution often provide limit cases for their contemporary theoretical models, and transnational protest movements from Occupy to Democracy in Europe 2025 are no exception. The recent special issue of the Journal of International Political Theory offers a number of different conceptual paths towards understanding these developments, revising and refreshing categories like civil disobedience, opposition, resistance, as well as constituent and destituent power. However, the plurality of perspectives in the special issue leads to a certain degree of uncertainty in the use of terms. This response to the special issue begins with a reflection on its major conceptual developments, addresses the missed encounter with Giorgio Agamben’s theory of ‘destituent potential’ and develops a framework for contrasting different theoretical approaches to political protest and constitution through their relation to potentiality. This taxonomy of emergent forms of political protest and constitution complements the substantial theoretical developments undertaken in the special issue by making the important conceptual relationships between them more readily visible. As well, by demonstrating the applicability of potentiality to the study of International Relations, this framework contributes to the project of the theoretical investigation of international politics.

The Theorists’ Gambit: Kenneth Thompson’s Cultivation of Theoretical Knowledge About Politics During the Early Cold War

Kenneth Thompson was at the beginning of his professional life as a Rockefeller Foundation official at the time of the 1953–1954 Council on Foreign Relations-sponsored meetings on theories of international relations. As he took on more prominent roles at Rockefeller in the latter half of the 1950s, Thompson made cultivating a broad conception of theory in international relations and in the social sciences one of his main priorities. I begin by offering a brief overview of the foundation's aims and programs in international relations from the late 1930s to the early Cold War. Then, relying principally on archived Rockefeller Foundation records, I discuss how Thompson interpreted these aims and sought to realize them. Specifically, I focus on how two grants Thompson designed for Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, aimed to make a robust, eclectic theorizing the basis for intellectuals' contributions to public life. I conclude by assessing the lasting impact of Thompson's “theorists' gambit” on the fields of international relations and political theory.

Creating sustainable health care systems.

In order to create sustainable health systems, many countries are introducing ways to prioritise health services underpinned by a process of health technology assessment. While this approach requires technical judgements of clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness, these are embedded in a wider set of social (societal) value judgements, including fairness, responsiveness to need, non-discrimination and obligations of accountability and transparency. Implementing controversial decisions faces legal, political and public challenge. To help generate acceptance for the need for health prioritisation and the resulting decisions, the purpose of this paper is to develop a novel way of encouraging key stakeholders, especially patients and the public, to become involved in the prioritisation process. Through a multidisciplinary collaboration involving a series of international workshops, ethical and political theory (including accountability for reasonableness) have been applied to develop a practical way forward through the creation of a values framework. The authors have tested this framework in England and in New Zealand using a mixed-methods approach. A social values framework that consists of content and process values has been developed and converted into an online decision-making audit tool. The authors have developed an easy to use method to help stakeholders (including the public) to understand the need for prioritisation of health services and to encourage their involvement. It provides a pragmatic way of harmonising different perspectives aimed at maximising health experience. All health care systems are facing increasing demands within finite resources. Although many countries are introducing ways to prioritise health services, the decisions often face legal, political, commercial and ethical challenge. The research will help health systems to respond to these challenges. This study helps in increasing public involvement in complex health challenges. No other groups have used this combination of approaches to address this issue.

Are human rights western—And why does it matter? A perspective from international political theory

A widespread assumption alleges that human rights are not universal, as they claim to be, but are instead Western oriented. Yet a growing body of research provides evidence that human rights are not just Western. Both perspectives are critical of repressive dimensions in the human rights regime, though they recommend different approaches to addressing them. This article explores both viewpoints from an International Political Theory perspective. Examining the pluralist idea, institutionalization, and application of human rights, the first section argues that human rights are not just Western. The second section investigates why it nevertheless matters to ask whether human rights are Western. This article develops four interrelated criteria: dynamic pluralism, awareness of power and inequalities, contextual universalism, and open normativity. These criteria help determine whether human rights are (not just) Western, and, more importantly, they provide the basis for an emancipatory human rights regime.

Saving ourselves? On rescue and humanitarian action

AbstractThis article contributes to the international political theory of humanitarianism by unpicking the politics of humanitarian action’s simplest expression: saving human lives in the name of humanity. Both saving lives and defining notions of common humanity are closely interrelated acts of power. What saving a life means depends on a prior definition of humanity; humanitarians’ acts of rescue are the measure of their commitment to humanity. The politics of rescue and the politics of humanity are inextricably linked. The article explores four facets of this nexus. First, it considers the meanings of rescue, from saving bodies to saving lives, linked to contingent understandings of humanity. Second, it turns to the rescuers, for whom rescue performs particular functions, not least the need to preserve a sense of self. Third, it situates their often narcissistic motives in relation to the consequences of humanitarian action. Fourth, it addresses the power imbalance inherent in rescue and the problem of causing harm. It concludes that rescue is always an act of presumption, but one that can be tempered by humanitarian actors willing to embrace their role as ‘moral politicians’ (Walzer), aware of their power and their dirty hands, and open to contrasting understandings of humanity.

Systems, levels, and structural theory: Waltz’s theory isnota systemic theory (and why that matters for International Relations today)

Most in International Relations today, whatever their view of structural realism, would agree with Robert Jervis that Waltz’s theory is “the most truly systemic of our theories of international politics.” I argue that it is, in fact, the antithesis. Waltz, despite his systemic starting point, produced an analytic theory. Waltz’s redefinition of a system as “composed of a structure and of interacting units” replaced the “systemic” understanding of a system as parts of particular types related in particular ways to make a whole with emergent properties with an analytic model of characterless units interacting with one another and with a reified structure. Waltz, I argue, was led to this stunning reversal by his application of: a levels and units frame; a reified conception of structure; a mistaken exclusion of the attributes of units that make them parts of the system; a vision of systems as derivative constraints on otherwise more or less autonomous units; and certain peculiar ideas about the nature of theory. In the final section, I argue that “relationalism” today is not merely reviving, but extending, “systemic” approaches in International Relations and is now poised to make the sort of transformative contribution that Waltz promised but did not deliver.

Is Neorealism a Deterministic Theory of International Relations?

This article is a contribution to the clarification of the central claim of Kenneth Waltz’s neorealist international relations theory. Over the years, the notion that Waltz’s Theory of International Politics postulates a deterministic connection between the configuration of the structure of the international system and the behaviour of each of the units has gained traction in textbooks and in straw-man critiques of the neorealist approach. Two major groups of critics of neorealism’s alleged determinism have formed. The first group focuses on instances where predicted balancing behaviour did not occur in order to refute neorealism’s central claim about the link between structure and behaviour. The second group objects to any strong claims about structural features as such. In response, this article shows that a careful reading of Waltz’s writings suffices to indicate that the presupposition adopted by both groups of critics is flawed. Neorealism was never presented by its main proponent as a deterministic international relations theory.

A 2019-es ukrán elnökválasztás biztonságpolitikai vonzatai

This paper analyses – in the context of the 2019 presidential elections – the prospective, near future scenarios for the existing conflicts that have developed in and around Ukraine. It applies a comparative analysis of the campaign programs of the most outstanding candidates, as well as the possible Russian security prognoses in response to the results of the elections. As a basic assumption, it regards the realist international political theory as a means that helps to most precisely understand the current status quo that appeared as a consequence of the Maidan movements and the armed conflict.

A Study on the Competition for Semiconductor Hegemony among Korea, China and U.S.A.

4차 산업혁명의 핵심인 반도체 산업에서 한국은 메모리반도체 강자로 자리잡았다. 메모리반도체 시장에서의 패권 다툼은 신흥 도전국의 시장 진입 시도와 이를 억제하려는 패권국의 노력이 다양한 형태로 나타나고 있다. 국가안보와 연계된 반도체 산업의 특성상 기업간 경쟁 차원을 넘어, 각국 정부는 전략적으로 개입하여 산업정책과 무역정책을 구사하고 있다. 한국이 메모리반도체 패권을 유지하는 데 필요한 실질적인 전략수립을 위해, 본고에서는 세력전이 이론, 동맹전이 이론, 헤게모니 쇠퇴 이론, 전략무역 이론에 입각하여 메모리반도체 시장에서의 시장 지배자와 시장 진입자간 패권경쟁 양태를 살펴본다. 경제 이론과 국제정치 이론을 접목시켜 볼 때, 현상 유지를 원하는 시장 지배자인 패권국은 후발주자 진입 억제를 위해 무역제재, 인수합병 저지, 배타적 가격 전략, 사다리 걷어차기 등 전략을 구사한다. 현상 타파를 원하는 시장 진입자인 신흥 도전국은 자국 산업 경쟁력 제고를 위한 세제 지원, 보조금 지급, 무역 보복, 인재 스카웃, 인수합병, 동맹 참여 등을 시도한다. 시장 환경이 결코 한국의 메모리반도체 패권유지에 유리한 방향으로 순조롭게 흘러가지 않는 국면에서, 국가안보를 확보하기 위한 정부의 외교적 노력의 필요함을 주장했다.Korea has been a dominating presence in the memory semiconductor industry which has played a key role in the 4th Industry Revolution Era. There are many forms of competition for hegemony, such as the attempts of new challengers to enter the market and the efforts of super powers to deter them. Semiconductor industry is not just a matter of economy, but a matter of national security, which leads to government engagement in trade and industrial policy. This research is written in order to offer ideas for an adequate action plan that the Korean semiconductor industry needs to implement. This research focuses on hegemony competition in the memory semiconductor market between dominant firms and market entering firms using recent examples, and is based on the power transition theory, alliance transition theory, hegemonic decline theory and strategic trade theory. According to economic and international political theories, dominant firms - as super powers - want status quo. So they block exporting important semiconductors to competitors, stop M&A s by competitors, use limit pricing strategy and kick away the ladder, which can deter challengers from entering their market. Challengers want to change the regime. As a result, they reduce corporate taxes, offer subsidies for firms, implement retaliation on trade, scout for top talented engineers and scientists, try to merge other firms and join alliances in order to enhance their competitiveness in the market. Under the unfavorable circumstances for Korean firms to maintain dominance, this research emphasizes the importance of diplomatic efforts to guarantee national security.

An examination of the international system stability after the Cold War in terms of the theory of hegemonic stability

It seems that by suing the theories of international politics, especially the onre of hegemonic stability in the form of the neo-realism of Robert Gilpin, it is possible to define the structure of the post-Cold War as a hegemonic structure, so that in the next step by using it, the behavior of the main units of the system, particularly the superior power of hegemony (America), could be explained. This research, by using the hegemonic stability theory answers the question of how the stability of the post-Cold War international system is, from the point of view of the hegemonic stability theory; Therefore, the hypothesis of this study cites it seems that the order and stability of the post-Cold War international system, from the point of view of the hegemonic stability theory, can be explained on thae basis of the central role of the United States and its desire to intervene in the general process of maintaining order in the global system(hegemonic order), because in this order the United States, while enjoying a superior economic position and the dominant material and non-material resources of power, pursues its own security, economic, and ideological interests, and strives to put forth its hegemonic goals in the form of some ideas and then to implement them with regard to their positive and negative feedbacks to stabilize the international system.

El conflicto internacional en la zona gris: una propuesta teórica desde la perspectiva del realismo ofensivo

This article offers a theorization of the international conflict in the gray zone, a recent term within the literature of strategic studies. To this end, the concept is settled by identifying its defining features based on a review of the existing literature. Secondly, the conflict in the gray zone is framed in John Mearsheimer’s theory of Offensive Realism. It studies the conflictual politics between great powers politics and the strategies they use to increase their power relative to one another. Thirdly, the strategic lines of action developed in the gray zone are identified, and their pros and cons are also analyzed. This third objective complements and extends Mearsheimer’s theoretical proposal, which explains the origin of the rivalry between great powers but pays less attention to the development of this rivalry. Thus, the concept of gray zone finds accommodation within the realist theory of international politics and, at the same time, enriches it.

American structural power within International Financial Governance: from Bretton Woods to globalization

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the international monetary and financial system underwent deep changes with profound consequences, including the breakdown of Bretton Woods and the emergence of the globalized financial system. This paper aims to understand how American domestic political and economic challenges and responses in the 1970s reframed the superpowers’ foreign policy goals with respect to global financial governance. Drawing on the international political economy theory of structural power, this article analyzes U.S. domestic and foreign economic policy and examines international governance outcomes from a historical perspective. It argues that U.S. replies to domestic and international political and economic constraints prompted significant structural changes to the international monetary and financial system. The paper concludes that it is American domestic decision-making that determines the structure of the international financial system due to American structural power to underwrite and rewrite the norms and rules of the international financial governance.
 
 
 Recebido em: fevereiro/2018
 Aprovado em: abril/2018

Discourse, genealogy and methods of text selection in international relations

Discourse analysis, once the purview of critical theories of international politics, has emerged as a mainstream methodology for understanding international relations. While interest in such perspectives has enriched international relations theory, much about the nature of methods—that is, specific empirical processes for the gathering and analysis of evidence—is left ambiguous in this scholarship. Which texts should discourse analyses focus on? And, more practically, how should those texts be chosen? Building on discussions of case study methodology from both qualitative and interpretive social science, this article contributes to theoretical and empirical projects within discourse theory by suggesting a method for text selection: the random selection of texts. I argue that random selection processes are beneficial for discourse analyses that aim to study broad cultural patterns, such as genealogy. Random selection is not simply a means of choosing texts, but also a more comprehensive logic for thinking about the purpose of texts in discourse analysis.