Arrangement

The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) has the pleasure of inviting you to a theory seminar with Dr. Felix Berenskoetter (SOAS) on the topic:

Deep Theorizing in International Relations

While there is not much doubt amongst IR scholars about the relevance of theory, there never has been a consensus on what makes a (good) theory. Addressing that question, Dr. Felix Berenskoetter (SOAS) will present a paper that explores what it might mean to engage in ‘deep theorizing’ to carve out the foundations on which a substantial theory is built. It does so in three steps. Firstly, the paper briefly reviews some of the reasons why ‘theory’ has taken on a shallow meaning in much of IR scholarship and some attempts to address this. Secondly, it suggests that the central feature of deep theorizing is to offer an account of primary motivations tied to the ontology of political actors and grounded in an understanding of the human condition, specifically social, spatial and temporal situatedness. Thirdly, the paper illustrates the value of this framework via realist, liberal, and constructivist schools of thought.

Program 13.15 - 15.00:

• Deep Theorizing in International RelationsDr. Felix Berenskoetter
  , SOAS
• Comments
• Q & A

Dr. Felix Berenskoetter is a lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS. He received his PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before coming to SOAS, he was a Research Associate at the Department of War Studies, King's College London (2008/09) and a Research Fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College (2007/08). He also taught at the LSE and Dartmouth College and is a former Editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies.