International Relations and Social Science

● Relações Internacionais como ciência?

● Adotar um único paradigma onde as pesquisas poderiam convergir
● 1970 três paradigmas mais presentes (realismo, marxismo e pluralismo)
● Modelo da natureza conservadora de Kuhn.
● Quarto debate (ou explaining and understanding, positivism and postpositivism or
rationalism and reflectivism) na metade de 1980 = foca no problema das “ciências”
na disciplina da história das RIs.

Explaining and Understanding:

Explanatory (Methodological) : Seek to emulate the natural sciences in

following scientific methods and in seeking to identify GENERAL CAUSES.
- quantitative methods
- Observed and measured

Understanding(Ontological): focus on the analysis of the INTERNAL

meanings, reasons and beliefs actors hold and act, as social meanings,
language are said to constitute the most important aspects of social
existence.
- Interpretative methods
- qualitative, discursive, historical

Positivism and post positivism:

Positivism: a theory of science that adopt an empiricist epistemology.

Knowledge is premised on the belief that the only genuine knowledge we can
have of the world is based on “facts” that can be experience by the human
sense, in another worlds when is only based on empirical validation
(scientifically validated). -methodological guidelines x belief, general laws

Post positivism: reject both the positivist account of science and the
hermeneutic alternatives, rejects that particular version of science, not the
idea of science itself. Accepting the importance of meanings, beliefs and
language without adopting a hermeneutic perspective.

Rationalism and reflectivism:

Rationalism: rational choice theory (positivist) accepts general complexity of

the social world but ignores the majority of it in order to produce predictions
based on a particular understanding of individuals maybe generate series of
well grounded predictions concerning behavior on the basis of observed
outcomes.

Reflectivist: reject the classical positivist/explanatory approach to IR theory

and research, emphasizing instead reflexivity and non-netural nature of
political and social explanation.