Global IR through dialogue

Abstract

This article aims to address how to ensure a two-way ‘dialogue’ across ‘the West/non-West distinction’ in international studies. To this end, I first discuss three different approaches to dialogue, the Socratic, the Habermasian, and the Weberian, and clarify what kind of thing dialogue should be if it is to overcome the ‘West-non-West divide’ and transform the current ‘Western-centric’ IR into a global discipline. I argue that dialogue should be understood as reciprocal feedback from different perspectives for mutual learning. In order to achieve this goal (i.e. mutual learning), I call for an ‘instrumentalist’ approach to dialogue. To elucidate this point, I offer an empirical illustration. The focus here is on dialogue as mutual learning between Western-centric IR theory, more specifically constructivism, and the indigenous experience and knowledge of East Asia.

Keywords:

• Global IR
• West-non-West divide
• dialogue
• mutual learning
• complementary reciprocity
• ‘instrumentalist’ approach
• constructivism
• ‘superior’ identity
• East Asia

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Patrick Jackson, Yaqing Qin, Amitav Acharya, Barry Buzan, Peter Katzenstein as well as anonymous reviewers for their very insightful comments on earlier versions of this article. This work was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University. All remaining errors and limitations are, of course, my own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Oxford English Dictionary, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dialogue.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eun Yong-Soo

Yong-Soo Eun, PhD, is an associate professor of political science and international studies at Hanyang University, South Korea, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Routledge series, IR Theory and Practice, in Asia. Yong-Soo is broadly interested in IR theory, diversity and pluralism in international studies, philosophy of social science, and the international politics of the Asia-Pacific region. He is the author of What is Pluralism and Engagement in the Discipline of International Relations (Palgrave, 2016) and the co-editor of Regionalizing Global Crises (Palgrave, 2014). His work has also been published in Review of International Studies, Perspectives on Politics, and PS: Politics and Political Science among other venues.