Liberalism “Everywhere and Nowhere: Teaching Liberalism from the Margins”

‘Everywhere and Nowhere: Teaching Liberalism from the Margins’ by Mauro J. Caraccioli offers a developmental account to teaching IR Liberalism to undergraduate students, specifically to contextualize and problematize its typical default portrayal as the optimistic and progressive IR theory. Focusing on Caraccioli’s first experiences studying and teaching IR Theory, the chapter draws attention to the crucial role of three factors: culture and demographic contexts; Liberalism’s history as a contested tradition; and how films can serve as pedagogical vehicles to more closely re-examine the underpinnings of any theoretical paradigm. Drawing on the geopolitical, textual, and structural factors informing the pedagogy of IR theory at various curricular levels, Caraccioli looks at how IR Liberalism can best be interrogated through its malleability, as well as peculiar historiography. The chapter ends with a set of reflections on what a grounded understanding of IR Liberalism can teach instructors of IR Theory today.