Introduction: Diversity and Disciplinarity in International Relations Theory by Steve Smith

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Introduction Diversity and Disciplinarity in
International Relations Theoryby Steve Smith

• International Relations Theories Discipline and
  Diversity

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Learning outcomes

• After this lecture you should be able to
• Appreciate the importance of theory in
  understanding world politics
• Have a basic understanding of the key
  theoretical positions in IR
• Recognise the importance of pluralistic
  understandings of the theoretical field in IR

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Importance of theory

• It is difficult to know what really motivates
  decision-makers or what brought about certain
  world political events or
• processes. In evaluating possible
• motivations and explanations we are
• inevitably led into the realm of theory
• Different theoretical systems can lead us to
  focus on different aspects of world political
  problems and to see world politics in very
  different ways

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Key positions in IR

• Classical theoretical positions in IR
• Realism and liberalism
• Neorealism and neoliberalism
• Marxism
• However, classical representations of central
  IR theories can be problematic in that
• they can provide a narrow view of the realm of
  international relations (equating it with
  inter-state relations)
• they tend to assume that different theoretical
  points of views see the same world of
  international politics

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Rationalism and beyond

• The so-called rationalists and reflectivists in
  the discipline disagree on how best to gain
  knowledge about world politics
• Rationalism vs.
  Reflectivism
• Rationalists tend to be foundationalist and
  positivist. They may marginalise reflectivist,
  non-positivist approaches to world politics
• However, students of the discipline need to
  appreciate that there are many theories outside
  of the mainstream approaches that need to be
  reckoned with

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Pluralism in IR

• Recognising theoretical pluralism in IR is
  important for
• opening up debates in the discipline
• legitimising new approaches
• bringing IR closer to other social science
  disciplines

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Shared elements

• Despite their disagreements the theories in IR
  share certain things, for example
• Belief in the centrality of theory
• Appreciation of different historical background
  of theories
• Each holds a position on the theory-practice
  relationship

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Consequences of pluralism

• Plurality of theories presents two problems
• 1) whether there can be said to be a discipline
  of IR at all
• 2) how one should choose between the theories

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Conclusion

• Students must come to their own judgements on
  these questions. In making informed and
  reflective judgements on questions such as these,
  it is important that students work with as
  pluralistic a view of the discipline as is
  possible