International Relations rooted in the Humanities

This research programme is interested in understanding how IR as a discipline and knowledge is understood and negotiated in different parts of the world. Through the study of global IR, we pay attention to the critics of traditional IR theories, rooted in western- and state-centrism, and to what the study of human experience in other parts of the world can bring to the study of IR. Our researchers are particularly interested in the ideational aspects of international relations and global politics. We study ideas and conceptual beliefs (agency, equality, internationalism, legitimacy, nationalism, sovereignty) as well international history and relations such as diplomacy, security, culture, and political economy. Our research is marked by a focus on a variety of regions and actors, particularly non-state actors and international organisations. In the current world (dis)order marked by a return of imperial politics, the contestation of the liberal world order and multilateralism, we believe that our pluralist research methods based within humanities disciplines such as philosophy, culture, history, philosophy, religious studies contributes to make IR a truly inclusive discipline. We also value research in mainstream IR and are interested in the future of IR which involves post-humanism, planetary politics, artificial intelligence and the future of the Anthropocene.

European Union Studies and its global role

Our research on the EU  focuses on the process and history of European integration. We study this topic from a variety of disciplinary approaches (history, law, politics, and international relations) and across multiple levels of governance (the national state, the European polity, and the wider regional and global perspective). In an effort to address the criticism of Eurocentrism, our research connects EU conversations to IR mainstream and critical approaches through the study of the EU from non-Western traditions and histories, as well as pluralist methods based within humanities disciplines.  Understanding how the rest of the world perceives the EU, how global challenges are tackled in other regions of the world and mutual learning from global IR perspectives enables a more complex and finer understanding of EU’s global role.

Overall, our research programme aims for cross-fertilization between IR and EU studies, it can be distinguished from other programmes in the Institute for History by its multi-disciplinary nature, the focus on international relations, global politics and its focus on contemporary world.

Related research

• International Relations and European Union Studies
  • Eurafrica: African perspectives, 1917-1970s
  • Selling the UN: Public Diplomacy for a New World Order
  • The Invisible History of the United Nations and the Global South - INVISIHIST
  • Human Security and Conflict in Ukraine: Local Approaches and Transnational Dimensions
  • Civil Society against Corruption in Ukraine: Political Roles, Advocacy Strategies and Impact
  • American foreign policy and liberalism
  • Centre for the History of European Integration (CHEI)

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