Open AccessAll Hail to the Chief: Liberal IR Theory in the New World Order
Author(s) -
SterlingFolker Jennifer
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international studies perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1528-3585
pISSN - 1528-3577
DOI - 10.1111/insp.12089
Subject(s) - pluralism (philosophy) , positivism , liberalism , discipline , diversity (politics) , international relations theory , epistemology , sociology , order (exchange) , world order , power (physics) , social science , international relations , political science , law , philosophy , politics , anthropology , economics , finance , physics , quantum mechanics
Analytical pluralism in IR theory is a welcome development, yet it may also play a role in reifying our contemporary liberal world order. While there is clearly greater analytical diversity in the IR discipline today than in the latter half of the twentieth century, it is a diversity that is contained within the boundaries of acceptable liberal discourse. As a result, it does not constitute a challenge to dominant disciplinary ways of knowing and being. IR theory may enjoy a circumscribed version of analytical diversity in which multiple voices may speak but power does not listen. This possibility and its implications are considered, with particular attention paid to liberalism and positivism as the dominant analytical project of the contemporary moment.