CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2009
| Author | Jahier, Adrien |
|---|---|
| Title | Seeing with Sociological Imagination: Visual Representation of International Relations Theories |
| Summary | Towards the increasing complexity of International Relations theories with different opposite schools of thought that dominate the inter-paradigm debate, this piece of work takes this diversity as a strength to observe and understand the evolution of international affairs in the global international system. Associated with the ‘sociological imagination’ argumentation, this diversity can allow any individual around the world to become aware of the interlinks between one’s own life and international affairs. In order to grasp those interlinks, the thesis argues for the interest that represents visual representation as a way to stimulate one’s sociological imagination in International Relations theories. Therefore, after considering the interest that symbolizes visual representations in International Relations, the problem was the following: how should one visually represent an IR theory? This work argues for an alternative method directly derived from the ‘sociological imagination’ methodology and notably its call for the use of “vagues notions and images” but also the model of cognitive map. Defining a theory as being above all a set of concepts with a specific logic defining their arrangement, I claim that the levels of analysis in International Relations are the best methodological tools to analyze different International Relations theories that can be then translated into a visual representation. The major findings of this research work is a map of the field which is supposed to stimulate one’s ‘sociological imagination’. I have made an attempt to represent two well-known theories: Kenneth Waltz’s neorealism and Alexander Wendt’s conventional constructivism. The first attempt was a success whereas the second one was not. Representing a neorealist theory, notably through its materialist nature, is more accessible than a meta-theory like conventional constructivism. However, considering the latter as being a contribution to the former, an attempt to represent both theories in a same picture has been done. The last step was to apply them to a case-study which is the European Security and Defence Policy missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
| Supervisor | Kurowska, Xymena |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2009/jahier_adrien.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University