1. The Human Subject in International Studies: An Outline of Research Programmes Extending to the Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences.
- Author
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Aalto, Pami
- Subjects
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FOREIGN study , *HUMANITIES research , *SOCIAL science research , *INTERNATIONAL relations , *INTERDISCIPLINARY research - Abstract
This paper enters the recent debate on the place of the human subject in international studies, with the aim of linking it better to the main disciplinary concerns of International Relations (IR) and to related research in other disciplines and fields of study. It is found that most of the main theoretical traditions of IR reserve some place for the human subject. However, these places remain imperfectly linked to suitable middle-range theories and other literatures on the human subject which would help with conceptualizing those places better. Moreover, in practical research efforts little or no empirical content is sought to fill the places reserved for the human subject. In order to correct this state of affairs the paper adapts some elements of the methodology of scientific research programmes of Lakatos to social scientific research. It is suggested that the Lakatosian 'positive heuristics' of the main theoretical orientations of IR - the possibilities for proposing new models and conceptualisations that keep research programmes going - represents a promising route for outlining what multidisciplinary linkages can be made to enrich and structure better the debate on the human subject. The paper argues that in order to exercise serious impact in IR, such multidisciplinary linkages must be sufficiently compatible with the ontological, epistemological, explanatory and normative assumptions of the available positive heuristics in the main theoretical orientations. The paper then concludes by outlining three possible broad directions whereby wider multidisciplinary research programmes on the human subject in international studies can be developed: the humanist, scientific and social scientific directions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009