Beyond Belief: Ideas and Symbolic Technologies in the Study of International Relations

Laffey, Mark; Weldes, Jutta

Abstract

As presently constituted, the analysis of `ideas' is deficient in two key respects. First, despite presenting itself as an alternative to the dominant rationalist perspective on international relations and foreign policy, the turn to `ideas' represents only a minor modification of that tradition, rather than a serious challenge to it. Second, the retention of the rationalist framework has had problematical implications for how `ideas' are conceptualized. Although explicitly defined as shared beliefs, we argue that the metaphors structuring rationalist analyses lead them to conceptualize `ideas' as objects. As an alternative, we offer a constructivist account of ideas as `symbolic technologies' that enable the production of representations. This different metaphor enables us to address directly the difficulties for analysis stemming from a conception of ideas as objects. It also opens up for examination a range of empirical phenomena overlooked by rationalist analysts.

Citation

Laffey, M., & Weldes, J. (1997). Beyond Belief: Ideas and Symbolic Technologies in the Study of International Relations. European Journal of International Relations, 3(2), 193-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066197003002003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 1997
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2007
• Journal: European Journal of International Relations
• Print ISSN: 1354-0661
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-3713
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 193-237
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066197003002003