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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29 Apr 2020
255 citations
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...146 Bueger & Gadinger 2015....
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...325 Adler & Pouliott, 2011; Bueger & Gadinger 2015....
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TL;DR: The authors argue that practice theory and relationalism represent the New Constructivism in International Relations (IR) and argue that a practice-relational turn became necessary because the meaning of constructivism narrowed over time, becoming tied to a specific scientific ontology focusing on the role of identity, norms, and culture in world politics.
Abstract: In this theory note, I address two new approaches in international relations theory gaining adherents and producing insightful applications: practice theory and relationalism. Practice theory draws attention to everyday logics in world politics. It stresses how international actors are driven less by abstract notions of the national interest, identities, or preferences than by context-dependent practical imperatives. Relationalism rejects the idea that entities—like states and international organizations—are the basic units of world politics. It replaces them with a focus on ongoing processes. Noting similarities in their arguments to those advanced by early constructivists, I argue that, taken together, practice theory and relationalism represent the New Constructivism in International Relations (IR). A practice–relational turn became necessary because the meaning of constructivism narrowed over time, becoming tied to a specific scientific ontology focusing on the role of identity, norms, and culture in world politics. This ontology unduly narrowed constructivism’s theoretical lenses, which practice theory and relationalism productively reopen.
166 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the multiple synergies between international practice theory and diplomatic studies and suggest what a practice theory of diplomacy may look like, discussing a variety of existing works through their common objective to explain the constitution of world politics in and through practice.
Abstract: This introductory article explores the multiple synergies between international practice theory and diplomatic studies. The timing for this cross-fertilizing exchange could not be better, as the study of diplomacy enters a phase of theorization while practice scholars look to confront the approach to new empirical and analytical challenges. The article first defines diplomacy as a historically and culturally contingent bundle of practices that are analytically alike in their claim to represent a given polity to the outside world. Then the key analytical wagers that practice theory makes are introduced, and debates currently raging in the discipline are briefly reviewed. Next, it is suggested what a practice theory of diplomacy may look like, discussing a variety of existing works through their common objective to explain the constitution of world politics in and through practice. Finally, a few research avenues to foster the dialogue between diplomatic studies and practice theory are outlined, centered on...
156 citations
Cites background from "The Play of International Practice"
...Others, however, warn against ‘the risk of falling back into a trivial, simplistic understanding of practice as synonymous to political action or “what practitioners do”’ (Bueger and Gadinger, 2015: 3)....
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01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The authors examines power in its different dimensions in global governance and proposes a taxonomy that alerts scholars to the different kinds of power that are present in world politics and demonstrates how these different forms connect and intersect in global Governance in a range of different issue areas.
Abstract: This edited volume examines power in its different dimensions in global governance. Scholars tend to underestimate the importance of power in international relations because of a failure to see its multiple forms. To expand the conceptual aperture, this book presents and employs a taxonomy that alerts scholars to the different kinds of power that are present in world politics. A team of international scholars demonstrates how these different forms connect and intersect in global governance in a range of different issue areas. Bringing together a variety of theoretical perspectives, this volume invites scholars to reconsider their conceptualization of power inworld politics and how such amove can enliven and enrich their understanding of global governance.
155 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that attention to three issues, namely affect, space and time, holds promise to further develop micropolitical perspectives on and in International Relations, particularly on issues of power, identity and change.
Abstract: This article posits empirical and political reasons for recent ‘micro-moves’ in several contemporary debates, and seeks to further develop them in future International Relations studies. As evidenced by growing trends in studies of practices, emotions and the everyday, there is continuing broad dissatisfaction with grand or structural theory’s value without ‘going down’ to ‘lower levels’ of analysis where structures are enacted and contested. We suggest that empirics of the last 15 years — including the war on terror and the Arab Spring — have pushed scholars into increasingly micropolitical positions and analytical frameworks. Drawing upon insights from Gilles Deleuze, William Connolly and Henri Lefebvre, among others, we argue that attention to three issues — affect, space and time — hold promise to further develop micropolitical perspectives on and in International Relations, particularly on issues of power, identity and change. The article offers empirical illustrations of the analytical purchase of t...
132 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce actor-network theory and demonstrate its value for international relations (IR) research and show how various actors have brought the concept of failed states to life; analyse how actors transformed because of their participation; and investigate the persistent struggles to define and homogenise the concept.
Abstract: Concepts such as the ‘failed state’ are jointly produced by academics and political actors and hence connect academia and global politics. Little attention has been spent to study such concepts and the practices that create them and sustain their relevance. We develop an innovative framework for studying concepts. Relying on actor-network theory, we suggest studying concepts as effects of relations between different actors building an actor-network. We introduce actor-network theory and demonstrate its value for international relations (IR) research. Our empirical case study of the concept of failed states combines bibliometric analysis and qualitative text analysis. We show how various actors have brought the concept of failed states to life; analyse how actors transformed because of their participation; and investigate the persistent struggles to define and homogenise the concept. In summary, this is an article about the life of the failed state, the discipline of IR and its relations to other actors, and an introduction of the actor-network theory toolbox to the sociology of IR.
56 citations
Book•
02 Dec 2013
TL;DR: Assemblage thinking and international relations have been studied in the context of security assemblages as discussed by the authors, with a focus on the production of knowledge and the knowledge of knowledge.
Abstract: 1 Assemblage thinking and International Relations Michele Acuto and Simon Curtis PART 1: THEORIES 2 Conversation with Saskia Sassen and Aihwa Ong 3 Conversation with Michael Williams and Rita Abrahmsen 4 Conversation with Stephen Collier PART 2: ONTOLOGIES OF ASSEMBLAGE 5 Cognitive assemblages and the production of knowledge Nick Srnicek 6 Global assemblages and structural models of international relations Olaf Corry PART 3: METHODS OF ASSEMBLAGE 7 Thinking Assemblage Methodologically: Some rules of thumb Christian Bueger 8 Energising the International Debbie Lisle 9 Visual Assemblages: From Causality to Conditions of Possibility Roland Bleiker PART 3 - MATERIALITIES OF ASSEMBLAGE 10 Security in action: how John Dewey can help us follow the production of security assemblages Peer Schouten 11 Welcome to the Machine: Rethinking Technology through Assemblage Theory Antoine Bousquet PART 4: POLITICS OF ASSEMBLAGE 12 The onto-politics of assemblage David Chandler 13 Agencement and Traces: A Politics of Ephemeral Theorizing Xavier Guillaume 14 The Assemblage and the Intellectual as Hero Mark Salter Conclusions: Assemblage Theory and its Future Graham Harman
56 citations
31 Dec 2004
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take the failure to grasp fully the paradigmatic case of European security after the Cold War as an example of how International Relations would benefit from reformulating not only its empirical research questions but also several of its central conceptual building blocks with the aid of Bourdieusian sociology.
Abstract: This article takes the failure to grasp fully the paradigmatic case of European security after the Cold War as an example of how International Relations (IR) would benefit from reformulating not only its empirical research questions but also several of its central conceptual building blocks with the aid of Bourdieusian sociology. The separation between theory and practice and the overemphasis on military power and state actors blind IR from seeing the power struggles that reshaped European security. Instead, a Bourdieusian reformulation adds new types of agency, focuses on the social production of forms of power, and stresses the processual rather than the substantive character of social reality.
54 citations
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: This article argued that the hope of many political scientists that warranted knowledge in practical matters can be obtained through standard social scientific methodologies is mistaken and that the time has come for a pragmatic turn.
Abstract: This article moves from deconstruction to reconstruction in epistemology and research methodology. To begin with, we show why the hope of many political scientists that warranted knowledge in practical matters can be obtained through standard social scientific methodologies is mistaken. We do so by subjecting two versions of the belief in traditional epistemological projects to critical scrutiny. First, we discuss Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, which for centuries provided the most developed epistemological approach. Second, we critically reflect upon the “unity of science” position by showing how a series of more recent epistemological debates in mathematics and logic have ended in impasse. Having revisited Kant’s critical epistemology and other attempts to set knowledge on secure foundations, in section two we argue that the time has come for a pragmatic turn. In sections three and four we suggest that a coherent pragmatic approach consists of two elements: the recognition of knowledge generation as a social and discursive praxis, and the recognition that research should be oriented towards the generation of useful knowledge. In the last section we provide some concrete suggestions for abduction as a pragmatic research strategy, and in the conclusion we deflect predictable anxieties that our ideas imply an end to the scientific search for sound and solid knowledge.
53 citations