Progress, decolonization and global justice: a tragic view

Abstract

What does making progress in global justice mean? What are the barriers to progress? This article introduces the notion of tragic progress, against assertions by International Relations realists that tragedy and progress are mutually exclusive concepts, and as a complement to notions of ‘pragmatic progress’ and ‘bounded progress’ offered by IR constructivists and philosophical pragmatists. Tragic progress refers to the disruptive and often painful process of self-examination spurred by contexts of crisis, both for individuals and for wider collectives. Focusing on the multiperspectival structure of tragic narratives, tragic reversals and the moments of recognition they invite, I argue that the devices of tragedy direct our attention to mechanisms for unlearning, and stimulate the pursuit of self-knowledge and transformation in contexts of crisis as a basis for social change. The contemporary crisis of international order can be interpreted as a tragic reversal for its practitioners and adherents, with the potential to generate moments of recognition that increase their receptivity to polymorphic claims of justice, many of which have been buried, muffled or repressed. The call to decolonize international order can be interpreted as a call for tragic progress, which consists of unlearning colonial subjectivities, practices and commitments, thereby opening up opportunities to make possibility out of dispossession, slavery, genocide, and other social, political and moral horrors of our time.