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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Molding Minds That Form Policy : How to Make Research Useful
- 2005
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585. ; 6:1, s. 51-71
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How can policy-relevant ideas be effectively communicated to practitioners? While the existing literature has focused on what kind of theory and research are policy relevant, it does not say much about how this knowledge can be communicated. If you want to make a difference, you must know how to reach your target. We take note of the important, but in this context often overlooked opportunities for knowledge diffusion that are provided by the education of young minds and the training of mid-career officials and officers. This article first discusses three contending perspectives on the relationship between scholars and practitioners. It then makes a conceptual elaboration of conditions for communicating research to practitioners, drawing on a wide body of literature on the power of ideas. We conclude by summarizing pointers for how scholars may reflect and how we can act, if we wish to enrich foreign policy practice with research-based ideas.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Johan, 1967-
(författare)
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On the Policy Relevance of Grand Theory
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585. ; 15:1, s. 94-108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper challenges the commonly held perception that grand theory is irrelevant for policy. Policy, it is often argued, is in need of detailed case-oriented empirical analysis and instrumental policy recommendations rather than any sweeping generalizations or lofty ideas emanating from grand theory. Notwithstanding, this paper argues that grand theory has an underestimated relevance for policy. To be able to see and appreciate this, the notion of policy relevance must be expanded. Whereas grand theory and grand concepts such as Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, or Marxism do not provide case-specific knowledge or recommendations, they provide general roadmaps, conceptualization of world affairs, and also have a symbolic function, legitimating or challenging established policy paradigms. Policymakers, akin to grand theorists, arguably like to make sweeping statements and generalizations. Drawing on theory and findings in public policy studies, here applied to international relations and foreign policy, this paper suggests conditions under which grand theory can be relevant for policy.
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| 4. |
- Hirblinger, A. T., et al.
(författare)
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Forum: Making Peace with Un-Certainty: Reflections on the Role of Digital Technology in Peace Processes beyond the Data Hype
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585. ; 25:2, s. 185-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent years have seen the acceleration of data- and evidence-based approaches in support of peace processes, creating a renewed confidence that conflicts can be predicted, known, and resolved, based on objective information about the world. However, new technologies employed by conflict parties, stakeholders, and those who aim to make or build peace have also made peace processes less ascertainable, intelligible, and predictable. Technology can thus create both more certainty and uncertainty in (and about) peace processes. This forum article presents a first collaborative attempt to explore how the use of technology by conflict parties and peacebuilding actors influences these dynamics. We examine various fields of engagement, ranging from conflict prevention to peace mediation, peacekeeping, and longer-term peacebuilding. Our discussion engages with a variety of related activities, including predictive analysis and foresight, conflict analysis, cease-fire monitoring, early warning and early action, and problem-solving and trust-building dialogues. We suggest approaching un-certainty as a spectrum between uncertainty and certainty that can be studied across epistemic, ontological, and normative dimensions, thus inviting further academic research and policy reflection. The article is coauthored by scholars and current or former practitioners and underlines the necessity, benefits, and feasibility of research-practice exchanges on this topic.
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| 5. |
- Markiewicz, Tadek
(författare)
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Talking to the State: Interviewing the Elites about What’s Not to Be Said
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press. - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585. ; 25:2, s. 265-284
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How can researchers conduct interviews about sensitive topicsthe interlocutors are unwilling to discuss? This article contributes to theongoing debates on interviewing. While we are observing a growing in-terest in this research method among international relations scholars,we lack formalized advanced practices for overcoming interview-relatedchallenges. Drawing on elite interviews conducted in Israel and the UK,the article introduces two research techniques particularly useful in dis-cussing controversial or sensitive matters: in-situ texts and adaptable self-presentation practices. It first presents the types of challenges I faced seek-ing answers as to why secure and powerful states like the UK and Israel em-ploy narratives of vulnerability in wartime public communication. Then itanalyses how the use of in-situ texts during interviews assists in introducingsensitive topics into the interview. I illustrate how they allow me to quicklyestablish the importance of the research phenomenon as well as to facili-tate more open conversations. Finally, I show the benefits of the adaptableself-presentation technique. The goal of this practice is to conduct a re-sponsive interview. One in which the researcher builds trust with the par-ticipant by bringing out its own biographical aspects that emphasize eitherits outsider or insider status.
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| 6. |
- Sommerer, Thomas, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Transnational Access to International Organizations 1950-2010 : A New Dataset
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585. ; 18:3, s. 247-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article introduces a new dataset on the access of transnational actors (TNAs) to international organizations (IOs). While IOs were long the exclusive preserve of member governments, the past decades have witnessed a shift toward more inclusive forms of governance, involving participation by non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, multinational corporations, and other forms of TNAs. Yet existing research has lacked the data necessary to map this phenomenon and its variation over dimensions such as time, issue areas, and world regions. The TRANSACCESS dataset is designed for this purpose, and contains information on the level of openness in 298 bodies of 50 IOs from 1950 to 2010. On the basis of this dataset, we also introduce a first quantitative measure of institutional openness, in the shape of a composite index, available at both IO and body level. This index can be used to compare TNA access across and within IOs, but also as a variable in large-N studies on global and regional governance where IO openness is potentially relevant.
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| 7. |
- Vikberg, Carl
(författare)
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Non-State Participation in International Organizations 1998-2017 : Introducing a New Dataset
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - 1528-3577 .- 1528-3585.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent decades, one of the most prominent trends in global governance has been the increasing openness of international organizations (IOs) toward non-state actors (NSAs). As participants in the policymaking bodies of IOs, NSAs have become important actors in global governance, providing policy-relevant information to decision makers, representing constituency interests, and ultimately, influencing policies. Yet to date, we have little systematic comparative knowledge about the NSAs that participate in IO bodies. This article introduces the Non-State Participation in International Organizations (N-PINION) dataset, which maps NSA participant populations across eighty one policymaking bodies in twenty four global IOs between 1998 and 2017. The dataset provides indicators on the density, diversity, and volatility of NSA populations, available yearly across IO bodies. These indicators provide potential dependent and independent variables for scholars interested in a wide variety of research questions relating to the drivers, consequences, and normative merits of NSA participation in IOs.
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| 8. |
- Jönsson, Christer, et al.
(författare)
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Communication: An Essential Aspect of Diplomacy
- 2003
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1528-3577. ; 4:2, s. 195-210
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Communication is generally regarded as an essential aspect of diplomacy. Proceeding from an understanding of diplomacy as a transhistorical phenomenon, this article distinguishes a number of pertinent dimensions of the communicative aspects of diplomacy and proffers examples taken from different eras and geographic regions. With a focus on continuity and change, the article analyzes the basic aspects of diplomatic communication and the gathering and transmission of information, as well as two important options in the diplomatic repertoire: verbal versus nonverbal and public versus private communication. Two processes of continuity and change––the ritualization of diplomatic communication and technological development––are discussed. The article concludes that today's diplomatic communication cannot be seen as the result of any unilinear process. Variations within the distinguished dimensions do not follow an evolutionary pattern but reflect historical contingency.
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| 9. |
- Aggestam, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Digital Norm Contestation and Feminist Foreign Policy
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - 1528-3577.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines the role of digital norm contestation in feminist foreign policy (FFP). It analyzes how states that participate in digital diplomacy are involved in challenging and resisting norms, values and expectations related to feminist positionings in the digital environment. The article presents an analytical framework for the study of digital norm contestation and conducts an empirical case study of Sweden as the first country in the world to brand its foreign policy “feminist.” This triggered a process of digital norm contestation, particularly visible in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Three empirical vignettes of digital norm contestation are analyzed. The first example illustrates how the Swedish government was able to exercise global leadership to visually perform and digitally advocate the contestation of the US global gag rule. The second example underlines how the Swedish government harnessed its leadership by connecting it to grassroots contestations of the global gag rule through digital advocacy networks. The third example illuminates how the Swedish government’s visit to Iran backfired because of a lost sense of control over visual performative effects in the digital environment. By way of conclusion, we suggest three avenues that can be pursued to further the research agenda on gender, digital norm contestation, and foreign policy.
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| 10. |
- Nicoson, Christie, et al.
(författare)
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Re-Imagining Peace Education: Using Critical Pedagogy as a Transformative Tool
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Ingår i: International Studies Perspectives. - 1528-3577.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Existing studies demonstrate that although peace and conflict studies (PCS) emerged from a deep connection between political activism and research, the field has increasingly moved toward promoting liberal ideals of peace that sustain the status quo. Amidst this trend, many scholars have pushed research and education programs to explore beyond a hegemonic liberal peace, for example by diversifying reading lists and drawing on decolonial frameworks. This paper adds to such efforts: through the case study of a higher education PCS classroom, we use narratives from two course conveners and a student to explore challenges and opportunities of realizing a critical pedagogy approach to peace education. This approach recenters the classroom not necessarily in terms of what students ought to think, but how; critical theory provides a basis for fostering curiosity, using query as a tool of learning, and focusing class structure on students’ needs. Our findings suggest that using critical pedagogy in PCS addresses calls for a greater understanding of peace beyond the absence of violence, fosters active envisioning of peace, and works toward decolonizing and demystifying peace work. Ultimately, we call for PCS classrooms to foster critical thinking and radical imagination for a pedagogy of peace praxis.
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