Theory across time: the privileging of time-less theory in international relations

Abstract

How does the understanding of time and temporality in international relations (IR) shape the study of international politics? IR is centrally concerned with the study of issues such as armed conflict, but wars are events – a series of occurrences that only come into being through their relationship across time. The concept of time at work in the understanding of this event thus plays an inextricable role in the scholarship produced. IR shares an understanding of time that pervades (traditional) social science and is based on the Western notion of clock-time. This conception of time encourages a spatiotemporal model of the past that epistemologically privileges temporal understandings that value generalizable, time-invariant theory and discount temporal fluidity and context. These temporal commitments operate at a deep level, informing and shaping theory construction in important ways and de-emphasizing alternative approaches that may more accurately reflect the contingency of international events, discontinuities in political practice, and the radical shifts in international structures, which are often most in need of scholarly analysis. This article concludes that by treating temporality as a stand-alone issue, IR can better model and predict international political practices.

The Slowly Structured Classroom: Narrative Time, Lived Experience and the Contemporary He Classroom

“…These skills are central to the transformative process: namely, critical reflection, empathy and engaged citizenship (to name but a few). This skill set stands at odds with the notion of moral efficiency discussed by Walker (2009), and might be interpreted as a challenge to the mastery identified by Hom (2010) and McIntosh (2015). However, if the philosopher enjoys the prominent and influential position that Hutchings (2008) describes, then this criticality is a much-needed antidote to the individualism and insular ideals of neoliberal institutional design.…”

“…She does not engage with the intersection of causality and social science methodologies in this particular work. What is interesting, however -and what is hinted at in the works of Hom (2010) and McIntosh (2015) -is the simultaneous rise in a particular form of knowledge. As the philosopher came to cement his role as knowledge predictor, there was, at the same time, an emerging focus on universal knowledge claims to the detriment of particular and idiosyncratic interpretations of the social and natural world.…”

“…It frames not only the voices of researchers, as suggested by Doty (2004), but also the methods through which research is produced. (McIntosh 2015) There is, within Hutchings' (2008) interrogation of time, a looming challenge to the role that causality plays in the wider unfolding of the history of ideas. She does not engage with the intersection of causality and social science methodologies in this particular work.…”

“…What is more, Hutchings (2008) reflects on the agents (the philosopher) that helped this dominance come to pass. To wit, Hom (2010) and McIntosh (2015) reveal it to be a relationship that remains firmly in place within the academe, prompting academics to adopt a particular voice as they negotiate the demands of research and publications. I suggest that this singular influence is likewise evident in the teaching demands of the contemporary academic.…”

“…To reflect, and in turn, narrate, our lived experience does not align with the outcomes of a social science methodology. Our lived experiences and the stories that they generate defy the linearity of time that authors such as Hutchings (2008), Hom (2010) and McIntosh (2015) have queried. While a singular concept of time, such as linear time, might order the various stories that suggest a person's identity and temporal subjectivity, autobiographical storytelling bifurcates such linearity.…”