ABSTRACT
The work of Robert W. Cox is indelibly associated with the fields of critical International Relations (IR) theory and International Political Economy (IPE). He was the first to use the term neorealism in 1981, in an article that yielded two other phrases now synonymous with his writings: ‘theory is always for someone and for some purpose’; and the distinction between critical theory and problem-solving theory. 2 A subsequent article published in the same journal two years later introduced an entire generation of scholars to the work of the Italian Marxist theoretician Antonio Gramsci, providing a rich set of concepts for the study of IPE, including a reworked understanding of the term ‘hegemony’ along with the ideas of ‘passive revolution’ and ‘historic bloc’. 3 The framework of historical structures, elaborated most completely in his landmark publication Production, Power and World Order (PPWO), has similarly inspired scholars to range widely over the changing anatomy of world order. 4 These seminal contributions persuaded Benjamin Cohen to include Cox as one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ group of scholars who helped to usher in the modern rebirth of IPE. 5
