The construction of Eurocentric universals: recognition, property and the dynamic force of the negative

The decolonising effort within International Relations takes as a core concern the political implications and effects of Eurocentric universals that have positioned the global north as the privileged site of modernity and given rise to binary distinctions. This article asks: how are the universals of Eurocentrism constructed? To answer this question it investigates the notion of exclusive property ownership in the colonial context. Drawing from Hegelian recognition theory it argues that such a notion, was constructed via an essentially contested process of inter-subjective mediation and conflict within the modern European state. Such a process has at its core the dynamic and creative force of the negative as not-self/not-I or other in and through which our experience develops and shared norms and universals are constructed. The negative reveals the fundamental openness of our political experience and takes its place as a vital tool for critical thinking and theorising within International Relations.