Broadening the Horizons of the “International” by Historicizing it: Comparative Historical Analysis (original) (raw)
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International Relations History has been a much-discussed theme in the discipline of IR. Over time, some discourses have consolidated themselves as the mainstream. However, these narratives have been established on top of feeble ground put forth with the purpose of stabilizing them, what, at the end of the day, only weakens those discourses to a point that they end up not holding any water. Some of those ways of “telling” the history of the field have become so strong that they obscure other ways of viewing things, something that can be detrimental to any academic subject and especially to International Relations. The type of narrative used may have a pressing influence on ontological, epistemological and methodological postures vis-à-vis the field and its object, that is, relations between international actors.