What's the Point of International Relations? by Synne L Dyvik & Jan Selby & Rorden Wilkinson

Author:Synne L Dyvik & Jan Selby & Rorden Wilkinson [Dyvik, Synne L & Selby, Jan & Wilkinson, Rorden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138707313
Goodreads: 32834720
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Hypermasculine-Eurocentric Whiteness: Disciplinary IR in action

KKV stresses parsimony, rigor, and autonomy as essential criteria for an “objective,” “valid” social science. The manual advises the aspiring IR scholar accordingly:

Parsimony. KKV emphasizes parsimony as the defining criterion of good social science. In “explaining as much as possible with as little as possible” (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994, 28, original emphases), the properly trained IR scholar achieves order and control: “If we can accurately explain what at first appears to be a complicated effect with a single causal variable or a few variables, the leverage we have over a problem is very high” (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994, 29, original emphasis). Such parsimony requires rigor, both analytical and personal.

Rigor. Nature, KKV cautions, could drown us in its “blooming, buzzing” randomness. For this reason, we need rigorous methods. These help to uncover an internal logic (“rules”) to the particulars we observe, thereby enabling generalization. Causality emerges when behavior or patterns conform to rules, and inference gains validity when it is able to capture causality through “valid procedures” (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994, 34). Rigor ensures autonomy in the pursuit of science.

Autonomy. Most of all, a scientific life requires a lonely, detached sovereignty. Even when standing on the shoulders of giants, the KKV scholar, like his cousin in natural science, remains an autonomous, solitary figure. (I use the male pronoun deliberately here. After all, who can afford the illusion of “independence” and “autonomy”? Certainly not those who must care for others, especially if they are very young and/or very old.) Skepticism trumps all in KKV. No personal experiences, memories, hopes, and/or aspirations matter. “When told A causes B,” KKV instructs, “someone who ‘thinks like a social scientist’ asks whether that connection is a true causal one” (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994, 30).

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