Interpreting the English school: History, science and philosophy
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1755088219898884 |
| Author | Mark Bevir,Ian Hall |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088219898884
Journal of International Political Theory
2020, Vol. 16(2) 120 –132
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1755088219898884
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Interpreting the English
school: History, science
and philosophy
Mark Bevir
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Ian Hall
Griffith University, Australia
Abstract
This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘Interpretivism and the English School of
International Relations’. It distinguishes between what we term the interpretivist and
structuralist wings of the school and argues that disagreement about its preferred
approach to the study of international relations has generated confusion about what
it stands for and weakened its capacity to respond to alternative approaches. It puts
the case for a reconsideration of the underlying philosophical positions that the school
wishes to affirm and suggests that a properly grounded interpretivism may serve it best.
The final part of the article discusses the topics and arguments of the remaining pieces
in the Special Issue.
Keywords
English school of international relations, historicism, international relations theory,
interpretivism, structuralism
Since its revival in the late 1990s, the English school of international relations (IR) has
emerged as a one of the most widely recognised approaches to the study of IR. During
that time, its adherents have produced a series of important contributions to the field
(including, inter alia, Bellamy, 2005; Buzan, 2004; Buzan and Little, 2000; Clark, 2005,
2007, 2011; Cochran, 2009; Dunne and Reus-Smit, 2017; Hall, 2006; Hurrell, 2007;
Corresponding author:
Ian Hall, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia.
Email: i.hall@griffith.edu.au
898884IPT0010.1177/1755088219898884Journal of International Political TheoryBevir and Hall
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