Theorizing Infrastructures in Global Politics
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Theorizing Infrastructures in Global Politics. / Liebetrau, Tobias; Bueger, Christian; Stockbruegger, Jan.
In: International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 4, sqad101, 2023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Theorizing Infrastructures in Global Politics
AU - Liebetrau, Tobias
AU - Bueger, Christian
AU - Stockbruegger, Jan
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - A growing wave of studies in international relations is interested in “infrastructure.” Pipelines, ports, financial transaction arrangements, and other large technical systems increasingly occupy the minds of international theorists. This theory note provides direction to the debate by offering an important clarification of the concept of infrastructure and how it is theorized. Scholars have very different understandings of what infrastructures are, why they matter, and how to theorize and study them empirically. By outlining three distinct “styles of theorizing infrastructure,” we provide new directions for future research and how it can contribute to broader debates in international theory. The three styles allow to capture the disagreement over whether infrastructure is a theoretical concept at all, or if it solely refers to empirical phenomena. For some scholars, infrastructures are an object of politics, while others see them as developing political force or even agency on their own. Others see broader potential and note that “infrastructuralism” could provide a major new theoretical vocabulary. Each style provides major new avenues for international theory.
AB - A growing wave of studies in international relations is interested in “infrastructure.” Pipelines, ports, financial transaction arrangements, and other large technical systems increasingly occupy the minds of international theorists. This theory note provides direction to the debate by offering an important clarification of the concept of infrastructure and how it is theorized. Scholars have very different understandings of what infrastructures are, why they matter, and how to theorize and study them empirically. By outlining three distinct “styles of theorizing infrastructure,” we provide new directions for future research and how it can contribute to broader debates in international theory. The three styles allow to capture the disagreement over whether infrastructure is a theoretical concept at all, or if it solely refers to empirical phenomena. For some scholars, infrastructures are an object of politics, while others see them as developing political force or even agency on their own. Others see broader potential and note that “infrastructuralism” could provide a major new theoretical vocabulary. Each style provides major new avenues for international theory.
U2 - 10.1093/isq/sqad101
DO - 10.1093/isq/sqad101
M3 - Journal article
VL - 67
JO - International Studies Quarterly
JF - International Studies Quarterly
SN - 0020-8833
IS - 4
M1 - sqad101
ER -
ID: 376997477