: Is Theorizing about the Small (Developing) State Still Relevant?

• In Event: Two Decades Plus Later: Assessing IR’s Struggle with Inclusion of the Global South

Abstract

“Size” has long been a contested category though which scholars categorize nations as powerless, marginalized, and as objects rather than subjects in world affairs. This paper reviews the literature in terms of its appropriateness today. A suggestion is made to "travel backwards" to understand the origins of these countries' "smallness." and marginalization, which in many cases has been imposed by the powerful "Global North." The debate over the "validity" of social customs (including modes of governance) and languages reflects a continuation of this forced marginalization, whereas these languages and cultures are in fact quite central to international activity. The paper calls for a new conceptualization of size and its relationship to the perception of importance in IR.

Author

• Nancy Wright, Pace University