Strategic Ontologies
Narrative and Meso-Level Theorizing in International Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6272452 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam B Lerner (0000-0002-6715-3197, Royal Holloway University of London), Ben O''Loughlin, Ben O’loughlin (0000-0003-0538-4149, Royal Holloway University of London), Ben O'Loughlin (Royal Holloway University of London) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-8833 • E-ISSN: 1468-2478 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/isq/sqad058 |
| OpenAlex | W4383613023 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 45 |
This paper offers a theory of incremental theoretical evolution connecting the practice of international politics with disciplinary IR. It theorizes how international political actors engaged in strategic local decision-making exert productive power over dominant scientific ontologies of the international system. We refer to the narratives emerging from these processes as strategic ontologies, defined as gradual reformulations of the subjects, objects, and relational logics of the international system according to positionally determined priorities. As strategic ontologies gain acceptance, their innovations endure beyond the context of their utterance, leading to meso-level theoretical evolution. We substantiate this account with comparative case studies of contested strategic ontologies that have yet to become dominant in either the international arena or IR theory. Without strategic ontology as an analytical lens, scholarship might miss embryonic theoretical innovations in the process of gaining traction. First, we examine how Israel and West Germany engaged in strategic ontological contestation when negotiating a reparations agreement following the Holocaust. Second, we analyze how states have used vulnerability in climate negotiations in 2020–2021 to recast global policy priorities. Recognition of strategic ontologies across contexts illuminates theoretical innovations in real-time and opens a path for dynamic new bridges between the academy and policymaking
Context (archaeology · Discipline · Epistemology · International relations · Narrative · Negotiation · Ontology · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Global Security and Public Health · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security
Populism and territoriality
Adopted or contested? Examining Israel’s strategic narratives in German media
Injustices and Insecurities
Habitual media
Entangled Narratives
Historical IR and the promise of renewed dialogue between IR and history
Narrating future war
Narrating political violence without war
The paradox of international reparations
Why and how victimhood matters? Between strategic ontological narratives and intersectional injustice in contemporary Serbia
War talk as strategic ontology
Climate change and the imposition of strategic ontologies
The digital reproduction of the state
Chinese cinematic visions
Thinking outside the box
Cognitive Entanglement and Individual Responsibility for Structural Injustice
Strategically Hijacking Victimhood
Global injustice and the production of ontological insecurity
From the Ashes of History
One Belt, One Road, One Story?
Israelpolitik
Forging the World
Ontological Security in International Relations
Rectifying International Injustice
The Reparations Controversy
International Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade
Turning’ everywhere in IR
What's it like to be a state? An argument for state consciousness
Talking after Auschwitz? The public-political struggle in Israel over the negotiation of a reparations agreement with West Germany, 1951–1952
Narrative, Ontological Security, and Foreign Policy Change
The Development of Holocaust Consciousness in Israel
All Quiet on the Eastern Front; Israel and the Issue of Reparations from East-Germany, 1951–1956
Al Qaeda
Theorizing unpredictability in international politics
Anarchy is What Anarchists Make of it
History, theory and the narrative turn in IR
Strategic Narratives
Locating Relevance in Security Studies
Great Power Narcissism and Ontological (In)Security
The Evolution of International Norms
Why “isms” Are Evil
Theorizing the Political Relevance of International Relations Theory
No Alternative to “Isms
International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
Performing International Systems
The Nuclear Taboo
The end of International Relations theory
The Study of Discourse in International Relations
Leaving theory behind
International theory in a post-paradigmatic era
The ends of International Relations theory
Theory is dead, long live theory
The uses and abuses of victimhood nationalism in international politics
Power in International Politics
Micro-moves in International Relations theory
Tangled Loops
Experiencing the end and afterlives of International Relations/theory
Framing Reparations Claims
The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 9 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 18 |