Early life and education
Linklater was born on 3 August 1949 to Andrew Linklater and Isabella ''née'' Forsyth. He studied Politics and International Relations as an undergraduate at the University of Aberdeen. He then received an Master of Arts, MA degree from the University of Aberdeen in 1971, a Bachelor of Philosophy, BPhil degree from Balliol College, Oxford, Balliol College, University of Oxford in 1973, and a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD degree from the London School of Economics in 1978. His PhD thesis was titled ''Obligations beyond the state: the individual, the state and humanity in international theory,'' and was later published as ''Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations''. Just six months after moving to Aberystwyth he was crowned the mid-Wales Monopoly (game), Monopoly Champion, a title he held until his death.Teaching
His teaching career began at the University of Tasmania from 1976 to 1981, before moving to Monash University in 1982, where he taught for ten years. In 1993, he became professor of international relations at Keele University, and became Dean of Postgraduate Affairs in 1997 until he left Keele in 1999. In January 2000 he joined the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth as the Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics.Perspectives on International Relations
Until around the turn of the millennium, Linklater could be characterized as a scholar of the critical theory paradigm within international relations. In his 1990 piece, ''Beyond Realism and Marxism,'' outlines the flaws in Realism (international relations), Realism International Relations theory, the English school of international relations theory, English School theorizing, and Marxism, Marxist International Relations theory. Linklater argues that International Relations theorizing take a more expansive approach to the relevant actors which includes forces that generate human norms and structure human relations between societies beyond the class framework of Marxism. However, from the 2000s, he moved decisively to championing the relevance of the work of Norbert Elias to the study of International Relations. His later books, including The Problem of Harm in World Politics : Theoretical Investigations (2011) and The Idea of Civilization and the Making of the Global Order (2021) show his close connections with the 'figurational sociology' school associated with Elias.Research
Linklater has written and edited several books on International Relations, but one of his most important works is ''The Transformation of Political Community''. Published in 1998, it was hailed by fellow academics Chris Brown and Steve Smith (academic), Steve Smith as "one of the most important books in international theory published in this decade".Publications
*''The Problem of Harm in World Politics: Theoretical Investigations'', Cambridge University Press, 2011. *''Critical Theory and World Politics: Citizenship, sovereignty and humanity'', Routledge, 2007. *''The English School of International Relations: A Contemporary Assessment'' (with Hidemi Suganami), Cambridge University Press, 2006. *''Theories of International Relations'' (edited with Scott Burchill), Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. (Now on its fifth edition, originally published in 1996) *''Political Loyalty and the Nation-State'' (edited with Michael Waller), Routledge, 2003. *''International Relations: Critical Concepts in Political Science'', Routledge, 2000 *''The Transformation of Political Community: Ethical Foundations of the Post-westphalian Era,'' Polity Press, 1998. *''Boundaries in Question: New Directions in International Relations,'' (edited with John MacMillan) Frances Pinter, 1995. *''Beyond Realism and Marxism: Critical Theory and International Relations'', MacMillan Press, 1990. *''New Horizons in Politics: Essays with an Australian Focus'', (edited with Hugh V. Emy), Allen and Unwin, 1990. *''Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations'', MacMillan Press, 1982. *''New Dimensions in World Politics,'' (edited with G. Goodwin) Croom Helm, 1975.References
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