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The search for dialogue as a hindrance to understanding: practices as inter-paradigmatic research program

Ringmar, Erik LU (2014) In International Theory 6(1). p.1-27
Abstract
In a recent article Emanuel Adler and Vincent Pouliot argued that attention to 'practices' could help IR scholars overcome ontological gaps and provide a new basis, on which the discipline could be established. Four such dichotomies are particularly salient: between the material and the meaningful, the rational and the practical, between agencies and structures, and between the forces of stability and of change. By failing to provide a theoretical basis for a synthesis, however, this project will fail. What a 'practice' is, and how ontological gaps should be understood, cannot be determined outside of the context of a theory. The article reviews theoretical attempts to deal with the dichotomies Adler and Pouliot identified and investigates... (More)
In a recent article Emanuel Adler and Vincent Pouliot argued that attention to 'practices' could help IR scholars overcome ontological gaps and provide a new basis, on which the discipline could be established. Four such dichotomies are particularly salient: between the material and the meaningful, the rational and the practical, between agencies and structures, and between the forces of stability and of change. By failing to provide a theoretical basis for a synthesis, however, this project will fail. What a 'practice' is, and how ontological gaps should be understood, cannot be determined outside of the context of a theory. The article reviews theoretical attempts to deal with the dichotomies Adler and Pouliot identified and investigates the role of practices in the study of international relations. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
practices, practice theory, tacit knowledge, Pierre Bourdieu, ontology, paradigm
in
International Theory
volume
6
issue
1
pages
1 - 27
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000339505100001
  • scopus:84902199585
ISSN
1752-9719
DOI
10.1017/S1752971913000316
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
49a3b280-0d6d-405f-983b-f46256bc83ab (old id 4591730)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:22:45
date last changed
2022-04-20 01:21:17
@article{49a3b280-0d6d-405f-983b-f46256bc83ab,
  abstract     = {{In a recent article Emanuel Adler and Vincent Pouliot argued that attention to 'practices' could help IR scholars overcome ontological gaps and provide a new basis, on which the discipline could be established. Four such dichotomies are particularly salient: between the material and the meaningful, the rational and the practical, between agencies and structures, and between the forces of stability and of change. By failing to provide a theoretical basis for a synthesis, however, this project will fail. What a 'practice' is, and how ontological gaps should be understood, cannot be determined outside of the context of a theory. The article reviews theoretical attempts to deal with the dichotomies Adler and Pouliot identified and investigates the role of practices in the study of international relations.}},
  author       = {{Ringmar, Erik}},
  issn         = {{1752-9719}},
  keywords     = {{practices; practice theory; tacit knowledge; Pierre Bourdieu; ontology; paradigm}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--27}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{International Theory}},
  title        = {{The search for dialogue as a hindrance to understanding: practices as inter-paradigmatic research program}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1752971913000316}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S1752971913000316}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}