2019/07/30 by Yaqing Qin, Qin Yaqing, Astrid H. M. Nordin +1
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #International Relations and Foreign Policy #Peacebuilding and International Security
paper · doi:10.1080/09557571.2019.1641470
openalex publication_date 2019/07/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/03
This paper provides a theoretical sketch of relationality within the field of International Relations (IR). It argues, contrary to what many IR scholars hold, that representation is practice: academic representation reflects the background of a community of practice and highlights what is embodied therein. Therefore, different cultural communities have different practices and draw from different background knowledge. Rationality, which serves as the dominant foundation for background knowledge within many Western communities of practice, permeates mainstream IR theory. Relationality performs a similar role in traditionally Confucian communities of practice, where relations enjoy a distinct ontological status over individual rationality. A relational theory assumes (1) that self-existence coincides with other-existence and coexistence, and (2) that self-interest coincides with other-interest. Based on these assumptions, it argues that relations select, meaning that in a social situation actors base their action on relations in the first place and that rationality is and can only be defined in terms of relations. The article uses the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an example to elaborate its theoretical point.