Publication

In this theory talk, Miriam Elman discusses how the discipline of IR, consisting of various competing frameworks, can advance. She contrasts the approaches of Thomas Kuhn, in particular his 'paradigm wars,' and the methodology of Imre Lakatos, and assesses whether they are still useful for evaluating IR theory. Elman further demonstrates the relevance of (neo-)classical realism, particularly in contesting the claim that realism understands states as 'black boxes.'