In this paper I examine the processes through which movements emerge and are rendered perceptible or imperceptible, building upon the writings of geographers, mobility scholars and philosophers who have sought to overcome or efface the binary of mobility/stasis without flattening differences or overlooking questions of?the political?. The paper does this by distinguishing between?molar? and?molecular? movements, drawing upon Gilles Deleuze and F?lix Guattari?s A Thousand Plateaus to trace how perceptions of movement and stasis emerge in a world that is in process (...) and becoming. The molar and molecular are not presented as opposed terms in binary tension, but as overlapping tendencies or?segmentations?. I argue that a focus on movements and political forces that are becoming-molar and becoming-molecular requires mobility scholars and political theorists to move beyond narrow definitions founded upon binaries of mobility/stasis, the political/apolitical, and micro/macro. In doing this, the paper seeks to advance debates in geography, mobility studies and contemporary philosophy on processual thinking, vibrant matter, micropolitics and the politics of affect. Drawing upon the example of the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank, I then examine how molecular movements and affects are important for understanding the multiple movements and complex materialities of seemingly static molar entities. (shrink)

This article first aims to draw attention to, and diagnose, the failure of IR?s sociological turn to extend the domain of sociological reason into the philosophical turf of epistemology and thereby fulfill the full promises of the postpositivist turn. Its second purpose is to revive and deploy the radical version of the sociology of knowledge that can achieve an autonomous reconstruction of epistemology suited to a reflexive, post-Kantian consciousness. The diagnosis begins by tracing the erasure of the radical sociological position (...) in the connected evolutions of sociology and international relations. It shows that the derailing of the?sociological revolution? was paradoxically mediated by the consolidation of social constructionism and science studies, reproduced in IR through their counterparts in the?sociological turn?: constructivism and the sociology of IR. In these otherwise reflexive developments, the progression of sociological reason was halted by a self-imposed limitation on the extension of sociological analysis to all domains of thought and the endorsement of an idealist and institutionalist ontology of the social. A reformulation of the forgotten, radical sociological position clarifies the implications for IR of a transition to a postphilosophical theory of knowledge and delineates an empirical research agenda for such a reconstruction of epistemology driven by a sociology of knowledge of a revolutionary persuasion. Exploring the centrality of social practice in the social determination of knowledge, the article argues that, and shows how, a properly reflexive reconstruction of epistemology is best achieved by deploying the sociology of knowledge in two complementary materialist directions: a sociology of everyday social practices that illuminates our epistemic immersion in the carpentered environments of the socionatural order and a sociology of craft that objectivates the social constitution of the skhol? as a mode of existential boundedness by addressing scholarly thought as differentiated social labor. (shrink)

This article offers an examination of the aesthetics and philosophy of Argentine tango, arguing for tango?s contradictory power of resistance to the tendency of cultural commodification in contemporary society. The dancing couple achieves a sense of sovereignty and improvisational freedom which is in tension with the increasing commodification and standardisation of art in the age of globalisation. Written partly from an auto-ethnographic, experience-based perspective, the article foreground tango?s choreography of otherness, relationality, passion and playful improvisation in an attempt to elaborate (...) on tango?s significance as a dance of intimate resistance to political economy. What is produced in tango?s?space of touch? remains unproductive, unexplainable, and non-commodifiable. It is argued that Argentine tango might be able to resist total codification due to its improvisational nature and the politics of touch, passion and transgression that emerge from the ephemerality of the encounter, the ineffable?tango moment?. Tango here is considered as a subversion of the social framing which it nevertheless needs in order to function; it performs the possibility of a transgression, intimately yet publicly. (shrink)

This article is driven by the belief that there is great potential benefit in carefully considering the implications of?situated knowledge? in IR scholarship. This can be helpful not just for scholars thinking through meta-theoretical puzzles in International Relations, but also for shaping concrete knowledge practices in international political practice today. Yet, there seems to be something of an unresolved puzzle at the heart of the situated knowledge paradigm: a puzzle relating to what the situatedness of knowledge entails and how we (...) should?deal with it?. This piece suggests that philosophical and social theoretical, and by extension also IR theoretical, engagements with situated knowledge can benefit from being considered anew: from the point of view of theoretical physicists and cosmologists. While not always reflexive concerning?social? situatedness, the physicists and cosmologists considered here have reflected on aspects of situatedness that have been under-emphasised in standpoint philosophy. Crucially, physics and cosmology framings of situated knowledge can help to show why dealing with situated knowledge should mean more than attentiveness to various knowers and their positionality, and more than reflexive?dialogue? between knowers; it also seems to require?stretching beyond? the horizons of?situated knowers?. It is suggested that science is and, perhaps even?scientifically aspirant? IR then should be, about imaginative conceptual?stretching? rather than merely?situating?. This stretching should go hand in hand with opportunistic but critical methodological probing, seeking to push us?beyond? how we understand the world from our situated perspectives. The provocations developed here have three main audiences in IR: scholars engaged in meta-theoretical debates in IR, those studying international politics through the situated knowledge approach, and also critical theorists seeking to understand conditions of critique. (shrink)

This paper addresses the notion of a “theory of knowledge” from the perspective of sociological reflexivity. What becomes of the meaning of epistemology once the ontological status of knowledge is taken seriously, and its political dimensions impossible to ignore? If the knower is no longer an impersonal, universal subject, but always a situated and purposeful actor, what kind of epistemology do we need, and what social functions can we expect it to play? Sociological reflexivity embraces the historicity and situatedness of (...) knowledge understood as a cultural product and a social practice. It therefore enables us to cope with the collapse of our absolute and universal epistemic foundations and frames of reference, and to redefine the existential and practical meanings of knowledge for social life. In so doing, it also gives political meaning to epistemology itself, understood as a sociological theory of knowledge, not a normative one. Reflexivity can be envisaged as both a “bending back” and a “bending forward” of knowledge as praxis. As a bending back of knowledge on itself, it entails a rigorous understanding of the social conditions of possibility of our thought and our values, and hence a critical assessment of what our worldviews and notions of truth owe to the social order in which we are inscribed. As a bending forward, it turns this objective understanding into an instrument of existential and social emancipation, by delineating the structural spaces of freedom and agency that allow for a meaningful and responsible scholarly practice. (shrink)

Hamati-Ataya, I.. Reflectivity, Reflexivity, Reflexivism: IR's 'Reflexive Turn' - and Beyond. European Journal of International Relations, 19, 669-69.

The notion of?reflexivity? has been so intimately tied to the critique of positivism and empiricism in International Relations that the emergence of post-positivism has naturally produced the anticipation of a?reflexive turn? in IR theory. Three decades after the launch of the post-positivist critique, however, reflexive IR has failed to impose itself as either a clear or serious contender to mainstream scholarship. Reasons for this failure include: the proliferation of different understandings of?reflexivity? in IR theory that entail significantly different projects and (...) concerns for IR scholarship; the equation of?reflexive theory? with?critical? and?emancipatory theory? and the consequent confusion of ethical/normative issues with strictly epistemic/theoretical ones; and the refusal to consider reflexive IR as a?research programme? concerned with empirical knowledge, not just meta-explanation. The development of reflexivity in IR theory as a sustainable cognitive and praxeological effort is nonetheless possible? and still needed. This article suggests what taking the?reflexive turn? would really entail for IR. (shrink)

This thesis is an original contribution to critical international relations theory. Responding to Hartmut Behr's call for the development of more universalistic trajectories of ontological inquiry for contemporary (global) politics and ethics, our original contribution is to establish a 'critical' approach to international theory on a more universalistic meta-theoretical foundation. Proceeding from a philosophical analysis of 'ontological' foundations in influential normative, meta-theoretical, and critical approaches to international theory, we argue for a shift from international theory’s reliance on a shallow ontology (...) of 'things that exist' to a fuller ontology of being, and of human being in particular. After identifying with the left-Hegelian tradition of thought, and establishing that the most compelling and promising advocate of a 'critical' approach to international theory, that of Andrew Linklater, rests on a limited conception of human existence and a thin understanding of human freedom, we explore the implications of conceptions of human being and freedom in the work of Martin Heidegger and Georg W. F. Hegel for critical international theory. Offering an epistemological defence of our universalism through Hegel's phenomenological constructivist approach to knowledge, then demonstrating how this allows us to transcend the schism between foundationalist and anti-foundationalist approaches to normative theory, we premise our own emancipatory cosmopolitanism on a commitment to the human being conceived as 'singularity' rather than subject. Proceeding from a discussion of 'what it means to be' a free human being according to Heidegger and Hegel, we then foreground two aspects of human freedom that have hitherto been obscured in critical international theory and develop a praxeological emancipatory cosmopolitanism on this basis. Rather than rejecting Linklater's emancipatory cosmopolitanism, we call for its 'overcoming,' and demonstrate ways that our meta-theoretical argument can effect international practice by offering 'love' as a guide for ethical and emancipatory praxis and an evaluative tool for critical social theory. (shrink)

This article joins a growing chorus of voices aiming to decolonize International Relations. It argues that the location of Latin America is ideally placed to bring a significant critique of IR because of its intimate relationship to one of conventional IR’s key protagonists: the USA. The analysis involves thinking about the USA from a historical and theoretical position in Latin America, exploring the always intimate relationship between the two. It draws its inspiration particularly from Latin American theorization of the ‘coloniality (...) of power’, and explores two decolonial strategies: thinking about the emergence of a globally powerful USA through coloniality theorizing; and examining the political possibilities of ‘border thinking’ and ‘diversality’ within the ‘colonial difference’ for a decolonial IR. The article seeks to open a field of discussion which positions Latin America as a site for critical thinking and action, and a heartland of decolonial struggle. (shrink)

This article addresses two concerns that are central to much of the qualitative research currently ongoing in both the social sciences and other fields of social research: the status awarded to biographical knowledges and, associatively, how such knowledges are dealt with in concrete research. The first section calls attention to the unreliability of memory in order to cast doubt on the veracity of lay actors' accounts and thus question their position in social research. The second section, taking up this challenge, (...) addresses a number of critical issues related to both the theoretical and the empirical status of biographical knowledges in qualitative research. Foremost of these are how both 'ignorance' and the dynamic nature of memory are integral to the construction and reconstruction of biographical knowledge. The methodological considerations that arise from this discussion are then considered more explicitly. The article seeks to provoke, rather than foreclose, critical thought and debate. (shrink)

This is a co-edited issue of Performance Research which includes an essay by Gritzner ('Form and Formlessness: Participation at the Limit'), a conversation (interview) by Gritzner ('On Participation in Art: A Conversation with Alexander Düttmann'), and a co-authored editorial (with Laura Cull).

Monteiro and Ruby (2009) argue that International Relations (IR) scholars should look to adopt a more ‘tentative attitude’ towards the philosophy of science (PoS) frameworks in IR. This is an attractive and timely call for more open-minded PoS argumentation in the field. Yet, the logic of Monteiro and Ruby’s argument is not (rather characteristically of PoS debates) infallible. As other commentaries in this forum show, it is not self-evident that Monteiro and Ruby’s account is ‘post-foundational’, or that it is premised (...) on an accurate reading of existing PoS positions in IR. However, I do not here wish to elaborate further on the critiques that could be made of the internal coherence of Monteiro and Ruby’s argumentation or their reading of core philosophical schools. Instead, I want to discuss a different kind of an issue raised by Monteiro and Ruby’s intervention: their treatment of the interaction of political forms of argumentation and PoS debates. (shrink)

Critical terrorism studies (CTS) is founded firstly on a series of powerful critiques of the current state of orthodox terrorism studies, including: its poor methods and theories, its state centricity, its problem-solving orientation and its institutional and intellectual links to state security projects. Defined broadly by a sceptical attitude towards accepted terrorism 'knowledge', CTS is also characterised by a set of core epistemological, ontological and ethical commitments, including: an appreciation of the politically constructed nature of terrorism knowledge; an awareness of (...) the inherent ontological instability of the 'terrorism' category; a commitment to critical reflexivity regarding the uses to which research findings are put; a set of well-defined research ethics and a normative commitment to an emancipatory political praxis. (shrink)

Unlike natural agents, artificial agents are, to varying extent, designed according to sets of principles or assumptions. We argue that the designer’s philosophical position on truth, belief and knowledge has far reaching implications for the design and performance of the resulting agents. Of the many sources of design information and background we believe philosophical theories are under-rated as valuable influences on the design process. To explore this idea we have implemented some computer-based agents with their control algorithms inspired by two (...) strongly contrasting philosophical positions. A series of experiments on these agents shows that, despite having common tasks and goals, the behaviour of the agents is markedly different and this can be attributed to their individual approaches to belief and knowledge. We discuss these findings and their support for the view that epistemological theories have a particular relevance for artificial agent design. (shrink)