On the Historical Imagination of International Relations

The Case for a `Deweyan Reconstruction

Bibliographic Data

ID11922326
AuthorsJonathan B Isacoff (Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume31
Issue3
Pages603-626
Publication date2002-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMillennium Journal of International Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-8298 • E-ISSN: 1477-9021
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/03058298020310031101
OpenAlexW2146034944
LanguageEN
Citations received13

Despite the recent profusion of historical scholarship in International Relations (IR), there has been little questioning of the positivist assumptions upon which much of that work is premised. This is important because if the assumptions upon which historical knowledge within IR scholarship is constructed were found to be flawed, then explanations that appear to successfully account for historical cases might not be as accurate as we would like to believe. In response to this problem, this article explores John Dewey's pragmatist approach towards history, arguing that Dewey's pragmatism views historical knowledge as socially constructed, but not necessarily to the exclusion of alternative perspectives. The article concludes that Deweyan pragmatism not only provides a more useful way to go about historical research, but also recovers for IR the ability to engage in work that is explicitly for something, and in particular, for the improvement of the public good

Epistemology · International relations · International relations theory · Political science · Politics · Positivism · Pragmatism · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Philosophy · Political Science Research and Education · Political theory and Gramsci

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