Theory and Metatheory in International Relations

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations PDF Author: F. Chernoff
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230606881
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
This book uses three controversial contemporary American foreign policy problems to introduce students to the 'new debates' in international relations, in which the criticisms of constructivism, interpretivism, and postmodernism are presented against traditional positivist concepts of social science.

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations PDF Author: F. Chernoff
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230606881
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Get Book

Book Description
This book uses three controversial contemporary American foreign policy problems to introduce students to the 'new debates' in international relations, in which the criticisms of constructivism, interpretivism, and postmodernism are presented against traditional positivist concepts of social science.

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations PDF Author: Fred Chernoff
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781403974549
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
The book is an introduction to new debates in international relations. It shows why anyone who wants the best answer to foreign policy problems, like how to deal with North Korea's nuclear arms program, must look at debates in IR theory, and also debates in metatheory. The latter involve questions about whether IR is much or little like the natural sciences, whether prediction is possible, and the like. The book poses policy questions intended to motivate students to think critically about the assumptions and beliefs that underlay particular policy recommendations. It shows the specific links between those policy choices and principles of international relations theories and the further links to philosophical claims about how to choose the best theory. The book thus shows why it is important to examine and contrast the competing scientific-style rationalist foundations of social science theory with constructivist and postmodern positions, since each offers a different way of understanding what constitutes a good theory of international relations.

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations

Theory and Metatheory in International Relations PDF Author: Fred Chernoff
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781403974549
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book

Book Description
The book is an introduction to new debates in international relations. It shows why anyone who wants the best answer to foreign policy problems, like how to deal with North Korea's nuclear arms program, must look at debates in IR theory, and also debates in metatheory. The latter involve questions about whether IR is much or little like the natural sciences, whether prediction is possible, and the like. The book poses policy questions intended to motivate students to think critically about the assumptions and beliefs that underlay particular policy recommendations. It shows the specific links between those policy choices and principles of international relations theories and the further links to philosophical claims about how to choose the best theory. The book thus shows why it is important to examine and contrast the competing scientific-style rationalist foundations of social science theory with constructivist and postmodern positions, since each offers a different way of understanding what constitutes a good theory of international relations.

Progress in International Relations Theory

Progress in International Relations Theory PDF Author: Colin Elman
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262262552
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
All academic disciplines periodically appraise their effectiveness, evaluating the progress of previous scholarship and judging which approaches are useful and which are not. Although no field could survive if it did nothing but appraise its progress, occasional appraisals are important and if done well can help advance the field. This book investigates how international relations theorists can better equip themselves to determine the state of scholarly work in their field. It takes as its starting point Imre Lakatos's influential theory of scientific change, and in particular his methodology of scientific research programs (MSRP). It uses MSRP to organize its analysis of major research programs over the last several decades and uses MSRP's criteria for theoretical progress to evaluate these programs. The contributors appraise the progress of institutional theory, varieties of realist and liberal theory, operational code analysis, and other research programs in international relations. Their analyses reveal the strengths and limits of Lakatosian criteria and the need for metatheoretical metrics for evaluating scientific progress.

The Rhetoric of Inquiry in International Relations

The Rhetoric of Inquiry in International Relations PDF Author: Torsten Michel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100046900X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This book argues that our current lack of recognising and understanding the different forms meta-theorising takes hampers the ways in which fruitful engagement between meta-theories can be conducted. It proposes a radical break with the ways in which meta-theorising in International Relations (IR) has so far been understood, and instead suggests a dyadic approach: a rhetoric of inquiry that investigates the diverging forms of argumentation currently present in IR meta-theorising and a conversational ethic that can help steer meta-theoretical engagements across existing divides in more productive ways. The central questions are as follows: where meta-theorising should go from here in order to contribute to the analysis of an ever more complex world? Can we develop ways that allow the practice of meta-theorising to channel and consolidate the multiplicity of its debates and contentions to strengthen our understanding of world politics, and if so, how? It will be of general interest in all theory and methodology courses offered at undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as to academics working in the area of meta-theory, international political thought, normative theory as well as IR theory in its various manifestations.

International Relations

International Relations PDF Author: Manuela Spindler
Publisher: Verlag Barbara Budrich
ISBN: 3866495501
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The book is written for active learners – those keen on cutting their own path through the complex and at times hardly comprehensible world of THEORY in International Relations. To aid this process as much as possible, this book employs the didactical and methodical concept of integrating teaching and self-study. The criteria for structured learning about IR theory will be derived from an extensive discussion of the questions and problems of philosophy of science (Part 1). Theory of IR refers to the scientific study of IR and covers all of the following subtopics: the role and status of theory in the academic discipline of IR; the understanding of IR as a science and what a ""scientific"" theory is; the different assumptions upon which theory building in IR is based; the different types of theoretical constructions and models of explanations found at the heart of particular theories; and the different approaches taken on how theory and the practice of international relations are linked to each other. The criteria for the structured learning process will be applied in Part 2 of the book during the presentation of five selected theories of International Relations. The concept is based on ""learning through example"" – that is, the five theories have been chosen because, when applying the criteria developed in Part 1 of the book, each single theory serves as an example for something deeply important to learn about THEORY of IR more generally.

International Relations Theories

International Relations Theories PDF Author: Timothy Dunne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199696012
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
Drawing on a wealth of expertise from an international team of contributors, the second edition of International Relations Theories presents a diverse selection of theoretical positions. Arguing that theory is central to explaining the dynamics of world politics, editors Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith cover a wide variety of theoretical positions--from the historically dominant traditions to powerful critical voices since the 1980s. The editors have brought together a team of international contributors, each specializing in a different theory. The contributors explain the theoretical background to their positions before showing how and why their theories matter. The book opens up space for analysis and debate, allowing students to decide which theories they find most useful in explaining and understanding international relations.

World of Our Making

World of Our Making PDF Author: Nicholas Greenwood Onuf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415630398
Category : International relations
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
World of our Making is a major contribution to contemporary social science. Now reissued in this volume, Onuf’s seminal text is key reading for anyone who wishes to study modern international relations. Onuf understands all of international relations to be a matter of rules and rule in foreign behaviour. The author draws together the rules of international relations, explains their source, and elaborates on their implications through a vast array of interdisciplinary thinkers such as Kenneth Arrow, J.L. Austin, Max Black, Michael Foucault, Anthony Giddens, Jurgen Habermas, Lawrence Kohlberg, Harold Lasswell, Talcott Parsons, Jean Piaget, J.G.A. Pocock, John Roemer, John Scarle and Sheldon Wolin.

Constructivism and International Relations

Constructivism and International Relations PDF Author: Stefano Guzzini
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134319584
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
This new book unites in one volume some of the most prominent critiques of Alexander Wendt's constructivist theory of international relations and includes the first comprehensive reply by Wendt. Partly reprints of benchmark articles, partly new original critiques, the critical chapters are informed by a wide array of contending theories ranging from realism to poststructuralism. The collected leading theorists critique Wendt’s seminal book Social Theory of International Politics and his subsequent revisions. They take issue with the full panoply of Wendt’s approach, such as his alleged positivism, his critique of the realist school, the conceptualism of identity, and his teleological theory of history. Wendt’s reply is not limited to rebuttal only. For the first time, he develops his recent idea of quantum social science, as well as its implications for theorising international relations. This unique volume will be a necessary companion to Wendt’s book for students and researchers seeking a better understanding of his work, and also offers one of the most up-to-date collections on constructivist theorizing.

International Relations Theories

International Relations Theories PDF Author: Timothy Dunne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199298335
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
This cutting-edge textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to international relations theory. Arguing that theory is central to explaining the dynamics of world politics, it includes a wide variety of theoretical positions--from the historically dominant traditions to powerful critical voices since the 1980s. The editors have brought together a team of international contributors, each specializing in a different theory. The contributors explain the theoretical background to their positions before showing how and why their theories matter. The book opens up space for analysis and debate, allowing students to decide which theories they find most useful in explaining and understanding international relations.