Evaluating Progress in International Relations: How do you know? PDF
Preview Evaluating Progress in International Relations: How do you know?
Evaluating Progress in International Relations This edited volume offers a systematic evaluation of how knowledge is produced by scholarly research into International Relations. The contributors explore three key questions: To what extent is scientific progress and accumulation of know- ledge possible? What are the different accounts of how this process takes place? And what are the dominant critiques of these understandings? It is the first publi- cation to survey the full range of perspectives available for evaluating scientific progress as well as dominant critiques of scientism. In its second part, the volume applies this range of perspectives to the research program on democratic peace. It shows what we gain by accommod- ating and enabling dialogue among the full range of epistemological approaches. The contributors elaborate and defend the epistemological position of sociable pluralism as one that seeks to build bridges between soft positivism, critical theory, and critical realism. The underlying idea is that if the differences between the various approaches used by different communities of researchers can be understood more clearly, this will facilitate meaningful cross- cutting communi- cation, dialogue, and debate and thereby enable us to address real- world prob- lems more effectively. This timely and original work will be of great interest to advanced-l evel stu- dents and scholars dealing with philosophy of science and methodological ques- tions in International Relations. Annette Freyberg- Inan is Researcher and Lecturer at the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research and the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Ewan Harrison is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Rutgers University, USA. Patrick James is Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California, USA. The New International Relations Edited by Richard Little University of Bristol, Iver B. Neumann Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway and Jutta Weldes University of Bristol The field of international relations has changed dramatically in recent years. This new series will cover the major issues that have emerged and reflect the latest academic thinking in this particular dynamic area. For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/ New- International-Relations/book-series/NEWIR Africa in the Expansion of The Conduct of Inquiry in International Society International Relations Second Surrendering the Savannah Edition John Anthony Pella, Jr Philosophy of science and its implications for the study of world Small State Status Seeking politics Iver B. Neumann and Patrick Thaddeus Jackson Benjamin de Carvalho Nuclear Realism Critical Security Methods Global political thought during the New frameworks for analysis thermonuclear revolution Claudia Aradau, Jef Huysmans, Rens van Munster and Casper Sylvest Andrew Neal and Nadine Voelkner The Politics of Globality since 1945 Assembling the planet The International Political Sociology Edited by Rens van Munster and of Security Casper Sylvest Rethinking theory and practice Trine Villumsen Berling Evaluating Progress in International Relations Reflexivity and International How do you know? Relations Edited by Annette Freyberg-I nan, Positionality, critique, and practice Ewan Harrison, and Patrick James Jack L. Amoureux and Brent J. Steele Russia and the Idea of Europe A Practice of Ethics for Global Second Edition Politics A study in identity and international Ethical reflexivity relations Jack L. Amoureux Iver B. Neumann Evaluating Progress in International Relations How do you know? Edited by Annette Freyberg-I nan, Ewan Harrison and Patrick James First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 selection and editorial matter, Annette Freyberg-I nan, Ewan Harrison and Patrick James; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Annette Freyberg-I nan, Ewan Harrison and Patrick James to be identified as authors of the editorial matter, and of the individual authors as authors of their contributions, has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-67416-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-31556-146-2 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Annette Freyberg-Inan and Ewan Harrison dedicate this book to their co-editor Patrick James in sincere gratitude for being a truly outstanding scholar, mentor, and friend over two decades. Contents List of illustrations ix Notes on contributors x Foreword xiii Preface xvi Introduction: progress, consensus, and cumulation in IR scholarship? 1 EWAN HARRISON, ANNETTE FREYBERG- INAN, AND PATRICk JAMES PART I Judging progress in the study of international relations 15 1 The bias of “science”: on the intellectual appeal of neopositivism 17 PATRICk THADDEUS JACkSON 2 Maps, models, and theories: a scientific realist approach to validity 31 COLIN WIGHT 3 Substance, form, and context: scholarly communities, institutions, and the nature of IR 51 TORBJøRN L. kNUTSEN 4 The role of theory for knowledge creation in IR: a sociable pluralist discussion 74 ANNETTE FREYBERG- INAN viii Contents PART II Evaluating progress in democratic peace research – an illustrative case study 87 5 Bounded pluralism and explanatory progress in international relations: what we can learn from the democratic peace debate 89 FRED CHERNOFF 6 Systemism, analytic eclecticism, and the democratic peace 109 JARROD HAYES AND PATRICk JAMES 7 Rethinking the democratic peace: competing accounts of “scientific progress” in IR 125 EWAN HARRISON 8 The normative within the explanatory: a critical take on the democratic peace literature 139 PIkI ISH- SHALOM 9 The closer you look, the less you see: knowledge cumulation in IR 156 LAURA SJOBERG Conclusion: different standards for discovery and confirmation 173 ANNETTE FREYBERG- INAN, EWAN HARRISON, AND PATRICk JAMES Bibliography 185 Index 206 Illustrations Figures 5.1 Democratic peace and criteria used by each explanatory theory 102 6.1 Functional relations in a social system 117 6.2 The democratic peace in 1997 120 6.3 The democratic peace in 2010–2012 122 Tables 1.1 Expressiveness and evaluation 23 1.2 Dichotomies 25 1.3 The neopositivist world 26 5.1 Authors’ use of explanatory criteria and explanation of democratic behavior 100 5.2 Realism, liberalism, and criteria 101 6.1 Analytic eclecticism and implementation 115 10.1 Summary of responses to principal questions 174
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