History and international relations theories: From historical "narratives" to analytic "narratives"

• Main Authors: Ham, Myungsik, Tolentino, Elaine Nicolas
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2011
• Subjects: International relations; Narrative inquiry (Research method); History; International Relations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/13355
• Institution: De La Salle University

Many social science scholars, including international relations scholars, pay little attention to the importance of historical narrative. Mainstream social science attaches great importance to universal theories that can explain most political phenomena with rigorous and simple causal relationships, while historical methodologies that help describe and explain human behavior are marginalized. Therefore, whether and when history is important has become a topic of endless debate among social science scholars when observing and analyzing human affairs. History has always been valuable only when it provides a law-like explanation for the study of recurring political behaviors. In other words, history itself has been neglected because historians prefer to study historical events in chronological order. This article argues that history plays a key role in the future development of international relations theory and in providing an alternative theoretical framework that can better understand the international order in particular regions. [translated from Chinese]