Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Which Are the Fairest Theories of All
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6273595 |
|---|---|
| Authors | K J Holsti (0000-0003-1989-0704, University of British Columbia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1989 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 255 |
| Publication date | 1989-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-8833 • E-ISSN: 1468-2478 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2600458 |
| OpenAlex | W2325015183 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 9 |
Over the last century our field has borrowed extensively from the epistemelogical foundations of historians, natural scientists, and various forms of positivism. Post-modernism as applied to international relations is a reaction to the excessive claims and aspirations of the "behavioral revolution." Lapid's essay concisely enumerates and evaluates its counter-claims. Where post-modernism will lead remains problematic. Its stance of methodological and theoretical relativism and its call for the deconstruction of classical and more recent international relations theories could lead to the abandonment of rigorous bases for evaluating additions to knowledge, to an indifference to the realities of international life, and to the promotion of fads. The essay discusses the sources and virtues of theoretical pluralism and argues that in light of the increasing complexity of international relations, our field will necessarily be characterized by a multiplicity of theories. The search for a single, authoritative theoretical or epistemelogical stance is likely to be harmful for the generation of reliable knowledge in the field
Abandonment (legal · Aesthetics · Deconstruction (building · Economics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · International relations · International relations theory · Modernism (music · Pluralism (philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Positivism · Relativism · Sociology · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance
Philosophy of Social Science and International Relations
International Relations Scholarship at 100
What is a minor international theory? On the limits of ‘Critical International Relations’
A genealogy of metatheory in IR
IR and the false promise of philosophical foundations
International Relations as Rhetorical Discipline
Combining ‘incompatible’ foreign policy explanations
Getting things right?’
Positivism ‘vs’ Postmodernism
Seeing beyond disciplines
Once Again Into the Fray
Play in(g) international theory
Reconnecting Evidence and Theory
On Storytelling in International Relations
Politics beyond the State Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics
One Field, Many Perspectives
Between Celebration and Despair
Patterns of Dissent and the Celebration of Difference
Foucault, realism and the power discourse in international relations
Critical Geopolitics
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,56 |
| Citation span | 1990 - 2025 (36) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |