The suzerainty of the disciplinary writ is challenged on three primary grounds. Firstly on its Eurocentrism, which leads the discipline to pass lightly over the distinctive life experiences of most of the world’s people. Secondly, on the discipline’s failure to engage in any systematic way with other bodies of knowledge about the international, as for example international political economy, postcolonialism and development. Lastly, it confronts the ‘top down’ nature of the politics of the discipline, and that seldom addresses everyday life. From squatter towns to the evasions of the poor, from law through to literature, this work raises a number of problems for International relations. It challenges a colonial mindset, de-centres the west and opens the field to new approaches that are far more inter-disciplinary than international relations generally allows. It is a provocative contribution for students and scholars of IR and Postcolonial studies alike.