Stappert, N orcid.org/0000-0002-7396-2927 (2020) The Art of Aiming at a Moving Target: A Critique of Lechner and Frost’s Practice Theory and International Relations. Global Constitutionalism, 9 (1). pp. 183-198. ISSN 2045-3817
Abstract
How can we account for the normative dimension of international practices? Silviya Lechner and Mervyn Frost’s Practice Theory and International Relations answers this question by proposing, with a considerable degree of epistemological sophistication, what the authors call ‘normative descriptivism’, which they combine with a focus on ‘macro practices’. In this contribution, I start by examining the authors’ engagement with IR’s practice turn, and the insights this engagement may offer on the underlying objective of their approach. I then turn to Lechner and Frost’s decision to eclipse history. The contribution concludes by using the evolution of international law as a cursory illustration of the types of analyses Lechner and Frost’s approach would lead to. It thereby emphasises potential challenges inherent in the authors’ combination of internalism as rooted in individual self-consciousness and a focus on ‘macro practices’, including the possibility that it might limit the potential to critically question the standard that becomes identified as universal.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article has been published in a revised form in Global Constitutionalism https://doi.org/10.1017/S204538171900025X. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University Press, 2020 |
Keywords: | evolution of international law; internalism; macro practices; normative dimension of international practices; practice theory |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2020 14:15 |
Last Modified: | 16 Apr 2020 14:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S204538171900025X |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:159499 |