A Cultural Theory of International Relations

Lebow, Richard Ned

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511575174

Cited by 419 publications

(98 citation statements)

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“…But if intentions matter, then so do norms, which influence intentions, and they also impact motives. A recent formulation of a cultural-cum-normative approach to IR by Lebow (2008), insists on taking into account the motives of actors. Propensity for risk-taking, he argues, "varies not only in response to whether gains or losses are perceived to be at stake, but, more importantly, the nature of those gains and losses" (Lebow 2008: 366).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleepwalkers in Athens: Power, Norms, and Ambiguity in Thucydides

Lavdas¹

2015

RHPS

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This paper reevaluates different readings of Thucydides, assisted by an analysis of the causes of the Peloponnesian War. The paper argues that Thucydides' own account of the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War hints at a more nuanced and pluralist methodology compared to the one that has traditionally been associated with his celebrated approach to the "truest reason" of the war. Relations between the "immediate" causes and the "truest reason" why war broke out can best be understood through the prism of a particular approach to levels of analysis, one that strives to master a more abstract understanding in order to transcend and harness the richness, the complexity, even the ambiguity of actual interactions, interactions that Thucydides understood so well. But the complexity and ambiguity of actual interactions do not seem to lead to war as an inevitable outcome. In the absence of a systematic approach to the relations between levels, harnessing the sensitive understanding of actual events preceding the war manifests itself almost as a response to an aporia: what Thucydides implies is that -given the participants' mind-sets, preconceptions, norms, culture, and interests -a number of conditions that must be analysed at a higher level of abstraction may render a certain outcome probable.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleepwalkers in Athens: Power, Norms, and Ambiguity in Thucydides

Lavdas¹

2015

RHPS

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“…A great deal of IR research, especially but not at all exclusively constructivist, has dealt with the historical record in recent years. 4 Indeed, greater attention to the facts of history has increased interest in new grand theorizing based on the historical record (Donnelly 2009;Lebow 2009). Much of this research has been globally minded, reflecting interest in historical international structures outside the West (Buzan and Little 2000;Kang 2010;Phillips and Sharman 2015).…”

Section: International Relations and The Problem Of Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

The conduct of history in International Relations: rethinking philosophy of history in IR theory

MacKay

LaRoche

2017

Int. Theory

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IR scholars have made increasingly sophisticated use of historical analysis in the last two decades. To do so, they have appealed to theories or philosophies of history, tacitly or explicitly. However, the plurality of approaches to these theories has gone largely unsystematized. Nor have their implications been compared. Such historical-theoretic orientations concern the 'problem of history': the theoretical question of how to make the facts of the past coherently intelligible. We aim to make these assumptions explicit, and to contrast them systematically. In so doing, we show theories of history are necessary: IR-theoretic research unavoidably has tacit or overt historical-theoretic commitments. We locate the field's current historical commitments in a typology, along two axes. Theories of history may be either familiar to the observer or unfamiliar. They may also be linear, having a long-term trajectory, nonlinear, lacking such directionality, or multilinear, proceeding along multiple trajectories. This comparative exercise both excavates the field's sometimes-obscured commitments and shows some IR theorists unexpectedly share commitments, while others unexpectedly do not. We argue that better awareness of historical-theoretic reasoning, embedded in all IR uses and invocations of history, may encourage the discipline become more genuinely plural.

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“…Agents would be willing to do so because belonging to a highly ranked social group would afford the individual esteem 86 and standing. 87 Moreover, from narrative theory 88 constructivists could point to how the identity of the individual and the social group continuously would be presented through on-going narrative constructions which would at all times seek to ensure positive emplotment and sense-making of the past by incorporating continuously occurring events into a narrative providing biographical continuity and supporting the identity of the social group. 89 The relationship between identity and narrative is widely acknowledged but has been specifically linked by Felix Ciut‰ 90 Despite the contributions from social identity theory and narrative theory, the implicit assumption about the essentialist self was not fully overcome because it simply moved the question from one assumed given identity to a choice between several available, but fully formed, identities.…”

Section: Identity and Internal Sources Of Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The problem of change in constructivist theory: Ontological security seeking and agent motivation

Flockhart

2016

Rev. Int. Stud.

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Constructivism has a problem in accounting for agent-led change and for what motivates agents to make up their minds about how to put their agency to use. I show that constructivismÕs problem of change is related to tensions between constructivism's own key assumptions about the mutually constitutive relationship between structure and agency, understanding of change and to an essentialist conception of identity. I argue that agency is constituted through processes of ÔidentificationÕ involving identity and narrative constructions and performance through practice and action. I make the perhaps controversial move to regard ontological security as a precondition for agent-led change and to identify ontological security maximisation as functionally equivalent to rationalist theoriesÕ agent assumption of utility maximisation. I identify two strategies for maximising ontological security; a Ôstrategy of beingÕ to secure a stable and esteem-enhancing identity and a strong narrative; and a Ôstrategy of doingÕ to ensure cognitive consistency through routinised practice whilst also undertaking action contributing to a sense of integrity and pride. The article concludes that although humans are endowed with agency, their actual ability to utilise their agency is severely constrained by their need for maintaining ontological security, which may explain why change appears so difficult to achieve.Keywords: Narrative, Social Identity Theory, Agency, Practice, Ontological Security, Identity Bio: Trine Flockhart is Professor of International Relations in the School of Politics and InternationalStudies at the University of Kent. Her research focuses on change in the international system towards a Ômulti-order worldÕ and the effects on the current liberal international order, transatlantic relations and NATO. The Problem of Change in Constructivist Theory Ontological Security Seeking and Agent MotivationOne of the fundamental questions in International Relations is how to change the world into a better place. Yet, despite the normative aspirations to change dysfunctional, and often violent, practices, the IR discipline developed a widespread understanding that Ôthe internationalÕ was characterized by continuity and recurring patterns, and that the aspiration for making a better world, was an idealistic Ð even a utopian Ð project. The belief that change was unattainable became so ingrained in the discipline that when the Cold War ended, most had not even considered the possibility that such a change could take place 1 and some even questioned its theoretical relevance 2 . Moreover, change was seen as one of those intellectual nettles that would be better left alone 3 rather than as something that could be theorized, categorized and conceptualized or indeed used prescriptively 4 . Therefore when

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A Cultural Theory of International Relations

Cited by 419 publications

References 0 publications

Sleepwalkers in Athens: Power, Norms, and Ambiguity in Thucydides

Sleepwalkers in Athens: Power, Norms, and Ambiguity in Thucydides

The conduct of history in International Relations: rethinking philosophy of history in IR theory

The problem of change in constructivist theory: Ontological security seeking and agent motivation

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