From “Critical” Nationalism to “Asia as Method”: Tagore's Quest for a Moral Imaginary’ and Its Implications for Post-Western International Relations

Abstract

Abstract This article seeks to contribute to the development of post-western international relations (IR) by engaging with the political writings and complex legacy of the Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941). It will show how Tagore's critique of the “nation,” most presciently delivered in a lecture delivered in Japan as the First World War unfolded, unlocks the potential of “Asia as method.” Tagore was an anti-imperialist but cannot be described as a nationalist since he was “critical” of the ideology of nationalism which he considered to be both pernicious and alien to “Asian” societies. His attempt to transcend the imaginary of the nation-state led him to posit “Asia” as a “moral imaginary” to counter the Westphalian imaginary of IR. However, this imaginary, based to a large extent on Orientalist readings of Asian history and civilization, was co-opted by the main object of his critique: the nation-state. It subsequently was subordinated to, and helped legitimize, Japanese imperial ambitions. Rather than seeing Tagore's flawed imaginary as merely highlighting the “deadlocks” of post-western IR theory, I argue that it can be seen as unlocking its “potential” by positing Asia as an “imaginary anchoring point” with which to critique the Westphalian imaginary, and methodological nationalism, of IR.