What question did this study set out to answer?

This paper examines the implications of a global perspective in International Relations and related fields.

February 14, 2026Open Access

Global International Relations. 'Doing Theory' from 'Somewhere'

Key Points

This paper examines the implications of a global perspective in International Relations and related fields.
Identifies six key themes relevant to Global International Relations (IR).
Utilizes a reflexive epistemology to emphasize 'doing theory' from diverse perspectives.
Encourages ongoing dialogue rather than fixed agendas in the understanding of Global IR.
Presents six themes: practicing global IR, global historiographies, contextual decolonization, deconstructing concepts, mapping agencies, and rejecting exceptionalism.
Argues for the importance of reflexivity and openness in advancing Global IR research.
Acknowledges the need to go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries in knowledge production.

Abstract

On the CSS Working Paper Series The CSS Working Paper Series welcomes papers on all aspects connected with the research focus of the center and gives authors a chance to increase the circulation, visibility, and impact of their research. The Working Paper Series presents results from ongoing and cutting-edge research at the CSS and partner institutions. Working paper topics reflect the various disciplines involved in the CSS. The Series serves to publish (preliminary) results quickly, and Working Papers may prepare a publication in an academic journal at a later date. Replication studies are also welcome. Abstract of Current Paper What does it mean to take the call for more ‘global’ International Relations (IR) seriously for the practice of research in IR and adjacent disciplines? This working paper presents specific themes that Global IR could engage with in the ‘pluralist’ and ‘dialogical’ spirit of the GIR initiative. To flesh out six potential themes that relate directly to the six dimensions of Acharya’s original proposal for Global IR, this paper draws on a reflexive epistemology which prioritises ‘doing’ over ‘applying theory’ based on a ‘view from somewhere’. The themes are identified and outlined in this paper as follows: (1) practicing global IR, (2) towards more global historiographies, (3) decolonising IR contextually, (4) deconstructing concepts for a post-colonial language, (5) mapping agencies, and (6) eschewing exceptionalism. Put forward by a diverse group of authors, the paper exemplifies the productive dialogue among several ‘views from somewhere’. The point of discussing these six themes is precisely to refrain from narrowing down the debate or proposing fixed agendas for future research, and to resist canonisation by conceptualizing Global IR not as a specific theory or worldview but as a continuous impulse to keep reflexivity going. In a nutshell, we argue that if this reflexivity and openness for dialogue are genuinely practiced, Global IR will enrich and advance diverse fields of research without submitting to traditional disciplinary boundaries, hierarchies and modes of knowledge production. Website https://www.esrah.uni-hamburg.de/

AI에게 질문

Bookmark

View Full Paper