Xavier Guillaume is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. His research interests include the political and social theory of international relations, the question of alterity and identity, critical security studies and citizenship.

This book examines the issue of collective political identity formation and expands the concept of international relations beyond the notion of states. It develops a dialogical theory of international relations and illustrates with a case study on Japan.

1. Introduction 2. Toward Process IR: Identity/Alterity and IR Theory 3. A Dialogical Approach to the International 4. From Orthodoxy to Normalcy: Narrative Matrices in Modern Japan 5. Between Homogeneity and Heterogeneity: Politics of Alterity in Modern Japan 6. Conclusion: Unveiling the International