The role of discourse in World Politics
Since the 1990s, IR scholars have growingly been interested in the role of discourses in the structuration of the international social and political order. The interest in discourse spans across the theoretical spectrum of the discipline, from critical realism to constructivism to critical theories.
However, despite discourses being referred to seemingly everywhere, they are often only mentioned in a superficial manner. On the one hand, the role of discourses is often ‘taken-for-granted’ instead of being empirically assessed regarding the case under scrutiny. On the other, the conditions under which discourses actually play their assigned role, or the means through which researchers conclude that discourses reflect certain dimensions of the socio-political world, are barely touched upon. As a result, discourse has become a ‘black box’.
Theoretically, this situation runs the risks of merely applying theories of discourse developed in domestic contexts, to international objects for which they are not suited. Methodologically, it calls for the assessment and acknowledgement of the tools currently available and their potential adaptation to IR theories and research questions. Empirically, it requires a better contextualisation regarding the diversity of the cases under scrutiny to work towards a more transparent, grounded and precise understanding of the role of discourses for international politics.
The aim of this project is to contribute to address this gap by exploring the question of the role of discourse in international politics:
- theoretically and empirically through a diverse range of case studies, for example discourses about climate resilience in the Caribbean, discourses accompanying the controversial anti-HIV global health policy of Voluntary Medicalised Male Circumcision (VMMC) and critical academic discourses against Western dominance in social sciences;
- methodologically through the development and popularisation of adapted analytical frameworks and methodologies (see for example the chapter about Discourse Analysis in the forthcoming International Organizations and Research Methods edited volume).
However, despite discourses being referred to seemingly everywhere, they are often only mentioned in a superficial manner. On the one hand, the role of discourses is often ‘taken-for-granted’ instead of being empirically assessed regarding the case under scrutiny. On the other, the conditions under which discourses actually play their assigned role, or the means through which researchers conclude that discourses reflect certain dimensions of the socio-political world, are barely touched upon. As a result, discourse has become a ‘black box’.
Theoretically, this situation runs the risks of merely applying theories of discourse developed in domestic contexts, to international objects for which they are not suited. Methodologically, it calls for the assessment and acknowledgement of the tools currently available and their potential adaptation to IR theories and research questions. Empirically, it requires a better contextualisation regarding the diversity of the cases under scrutiny to work towards a more transparent, grounded and precise understanding of the role of discourses for international politics.
The aim of this project is to contribute to address this gap by exploring the question of the role of discourse in international politics:
- theoretically and empirically through a diverse range of case studies, for example discourses about climate resilience in the Caribbean, discourses accompanying the controversial anti-HIV global health policy of Voluntary Medicalised Male Circumcision (VMMC) and critical academic discourses against Western dominance in social sciences;
- methodologically through the development and popularisation of adapted analytical frameworks and methodologies (see for example the chapter about Discourse Analysis in the forthcoming International Organizations and Research Methods edited volume).