The Play of International Practice
01 Sep 2015-International Studies Quarterly (Wiley/ Oxford University Press (OUP))-Vol. 59, Iss: 3, pp 449-460
TL;DR: The core claims of the practice turn in International Relations (IR) remain ambiguous as discussed by the authors, and it is worth noting that practice approaches entail a distinctive view on the drivers of social relations, arguing against individualistic-interest and norm-based actor models.
Abstract: The core claims of the practice turn in International Relations (IR) remain ambiguous. What promises does international practice theory hold for the field? How does the kind of theorizing it produces differ from existing perspectives? What kind of research agenda does it produce? This article addresses these questions. Drawing on the work of Andreas Reckwitz, we show that practice approaches entail a distinctive view on the drivers of social relations. Practice theories argue against individualistic-interest and norm-based actor models. They situate knowledge in practice rather than “mental frames” or “discourse.” Practice approaches focus on how groups perform their practical activities in world politics to renew and reproduce social order. They therefore overcome familiar dualisms—agents and structures, subjects and objects, and ideational and material—that plague IR theory. Practice theories are a heterogeneous family, but, as we argue, share a range of core commitments. Realizing the promise of the practice turn requires considering the full spectrum of its approaches. However, the field primarily draws on trajectories in international practice theory that emphasize reproduction and hierarchies. It should pay greater attention to practice approaches rooted in pragmatism and that emphasize contingency and change. We conclude with an outline of core challenges that the future agenda of international practice theory must tackle.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the potential of a practice turn in EU studies for both theory (overcoming dualism, replacing substantialism with processualism and rethinking power) and methods (including unstructured interviews, fieldwork and participant observation).
Abstract: This article explores how practice theory can be recruited for the study of European integration. New generations of EU researchers are fascinated by the prospect of leaving the armchair and studying the people and artefacts that make the EU on an everyday level. This article surveys key practice-oriented, anthropological and micro-sociological studies of the EU and European integration and shows how their findings challenge more traditional understandings of the dynamics of European integration. Moving beyond a stock-taking, the article distinguishes between ‘ordering’ and ‘disordering’ practices and explores the potential of a practice turn in EU studies for both theory (overcoming dualism, replacing substantialism with processualism and rethinking power) and methods (including unstructured interviews, fieldwork and participant observation). A practice turn will force us to rethink core assumptions about the EU and allow us to grasp otherwise uncharted performances and social activities that are crucial for European integration.
122 citations
Cites background or methods from "The Play of International Practice"
...…this literature differs from practice theory in at least two important ways: First, it tends to focus on discursive practices and disregard ‘the implicit, tacit or unconscious layer of knowledge which enables a symbolic organization of reality’ (Reckwitz, quoted in Bueger and Gadinger, 2015)....
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...In contrast, practice theories interpret the EU through a relational ontology rejecting that objects or structures have a fixed, stable identity or that closure is achieved at some point (Bueger and Gadinger, 2015)....
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Book•
23 Aug 2018TL;DR: Antje Wiener examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms such as fundamental rights and the prohibition of torture and sexual violence as discussed by the authors, providing accounts of local interventions made on behalf of those affected by breaches of norms, identifying the constraints and opportunities for stakeholder participation in a fragmented global society.
Abstract: Antje Wiener examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms such as fundamental rights and the prohibition of torture and sexual violence. Providing accounts of local interventions made on behalf of those affected by breaches of norms, she identifies the constraints and opportunities for stakeholder participation in a fragmented global society. The book also considers cultural and institutional diversity with regard to the co-constitution of norm change. Proposing a clear framework to operationalize research on contested norms, and illustrating it through three recent cases, this book contributes to the project of global international relations by offering an agency-centred approach. It will interest scholars and advanced students of international relations, international political theory, and international law seeking a principled approach to practice that overcomes the practice-norm gap.
113 citations
Dissertation•
01 Feb 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the question of how states, meaning organized political communities, were historically able to secure their sovereignty through gaining the recognition of other states by reinterpreting aspects of the existing Ottoman legacy of statehood and international norms.
Abstract: This thesis addresses the question of how states, meaning organised political communities, were historically able to secure their sovereignty through gaining the recognition of other states. As sovereignty refers to the presence of a state’s authority, its existence is premised on states and other internal and external actors recognising claims to sovereignty. Therefore, states, such as the Ottoman Empire, which historically had a different understanding of legitimacy, faced challenges to their sovereignty following the emergence of new global understandings of sovereignty in the late nineteenth century. The Ottoman Empire was distinct in that it was the only Islamic state that was not subject to and was able to avoid completely falling under the influence of then-dominant European states. However, the Ottoman Empire still experienced European intervention and there was a desire to end forms of European extraterritorial jurisdiction. Ottoman elites, who were affiliated with the reformist Young Turks, sought to secure recognition of their state’s sovereignty by reconstituting it along novel international standards of legitimate statehood. These standards were based on the concepts of “civilised”, “militarist”, “popular” and “national” statehood, and were reinterpreted by the Young Turks in the course of their efforts to secure the recognition of European powers. These efforts included diplomacy with European powers, institutional reform and conceptual innovation. However, it also involved engaging in practices associated with sovereignty such as the control of territory. In all of these areas, the Young Turks reinterpreted aspects of the existing Ottoman legacy of statehood and international norms, to secure their claim to sovereignty. Therefore, the Ottoman state elites sought to convey an impression of governing a state that could be recognised as sovereign by other European powers. Ultimately, the remnants of the Young Turks, secured international recognition of their state, reconstituted as the nation-state of Turkey in 1923.
111 citations
Cites background from "The Play of International Practice"
...…turn refers to a set of loosely similar approaches, which believe that International Relations theory should focus on the study of the individual actions, or practices, of actors (Adler and Pouliot, 2011a; 2011b; Bueger and Gadinger, 2014; 2015; Hopf, 2010; P. Jackson, 2008; Kustermans, 2016)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a tripartite framework is used to analyse and discuss the content, construction and role of the NoC of four initiatives: Ashoka, the Global Ecovillage Network, RIPESS and Shareable.
93 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors build on the practice turn's welcome move to redirect our attention to the unconscious habitual practices that constitute most of daily social life, including in world politics.
Abstract: This article builds on the practice turn’s welcome move to redirect our attention to the unconscious habitual practices that constitute most of daily social life, including in world politics. Since...
89 citations
Cites background from "The Play of International Practice"
...…when and how practices transform under which conditions … will be one of the main challenges for future studies in international practice theory” (see also Bueger and Gadinger, 2015: 456; Kustermans, 2015: 19).2 I make several claims: first, practical consciousness and unreflective habits…...
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...…Bourdieu repeatedly reminds us of the limits of such improvisation, while simultaneously insisting that it demonstrates the capacity for agency within the habitus, if only an anchored kind of agency (see also Bueger and Gadinger, 2015: 453; Emirbayer and Mische, 1998: 979; Ortner, 2011: 80)....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: Identity in practice, modes of belonging, participation and non-participation, and learning communities: a guide to understanding identity in practice.
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9,103 citations
5,646 citations
TL;DR: The main characteristics of practice theory, a type of social theory which has been sketched by such authors as Bourdieu, Giddens, Taylor, late Foucault and others, are discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This article works out the main characteristics of `practice theory', a type of social theory which has been sketched by such authors as Bourdieu, Giddens, Taylor, late Foucault and others. Practice theory is presented as a conceptual alternative to other forms of social and cultural theory, above all to culturalist mentalism, textualism and intersubjectivism. The article shows how practice theory and the three other cultural-theoretical vocabularies differ in their localization of the social and in their conceptualization of the body, mind, things, knowledge, discourse, structure/process and the agent.
4,669 citations