Cited by 341Political Science Research and EducationInternational Relations and Foreign PolicyContemporary Sociological Theory and Practice

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 32 of the 32 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 43 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

The rise and fall of the inter-paradigm debate

Wæver, Ole·1996·International Theory

Abstract

The separation of concepts applicable to groups from those applicable to individuals is a powerful tool for eliminating the solipsism characteristic of traditional methodologies. Science becomes intrinsically a group activity, no longer even idealizable as a one-person game. Thomas S. Kuhn (1993, p. xiii) A standard textbook presentation of International Relations (IR) has it that there are three paradigms, three dominant schools. The first is realism, the second is alternately called pluralism, interdependence and world society but it is in some sense always the liberal approach, and the third is Marxism or more broadly radicalism, structuralism or globalism. Some writers claim that this is the timeless pattern of International Relations debate – even in the classics, we find these three types of thinking (Kauppi and Viotti, 1992; Viotti and Kauppi 1993 [1987]). Others will be more restrictive and say the discipline became like this at some point, e.g. in the 1970s (Holsti, 1985). Not everyone, however, cherishes this categorisation. Is it vague and arbitrary? (Why these three? Why three? Where do you place the Neo-realism/Neo-liberalism debate?) No, all typologies are problematic – this no more than others. Such will not be my main line of criticism. A fairly coherent construction can be made (and will be presented in section 1). But ‘the debate’ is a misleading map and a bad guide to introduce students to. This is not the pattern of debate today. The story about an ‘inter-paradigm debate’ does not give a grip on the ongoing controversies in the discipline.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Wæver argues that the “inter-paradigm debate” was a 1970s–early 1980s self-image of IR as three incommensurable paradigms—realism, pluralism/liberalism, and Marxism/radicalism—but it no longer described the discipline by the mid-to-late 1980s. He proposes instead a four-debate sequence, with the 1980s dominated by a neo-neo synthesis and a rationalist–reflectivist fourth debate, and calls for new metaphors for IR self-reflection.

Key findings

  • The inter-paradigm debate was mainly a 1970s phenomenon, labelled around 1980–85; it presented realism, pluralism/interdependence, and Marxism/radicalism as incommensurable paradigms, though Wæver says it was “de facto mainly a debate along one side of the triangle” rather than an equal three-way debate.
  • In the mid-to-late 1980s, realism became neo-realism and liberalism became neoliberal institutionalism; they formed a “neo-neo synthesis” sharing a rationalist research programme, anarchy premise, and questions about cooperation and institutions. Wæver cites Keohane’s “We agree on 90 per cent” and says realists and liberalists agree “more than 90 per cent.”
  • The main 1980s axis shifted to rationalists versus reflectivists (the fourth debate), with post-modernists replacing Marxists as the radical contender. Table 7.3 contrasts the third debate (incommensurability, world view, three paradigms) with 4a (war, philosophy, neo-neo synthesis vs post-modernists) and 4b (differences within a research programme, empirical question, neo-realists vs neo-liberal institutionalists).
  • In the 1990s, Wæver sees rapprochement and a middle ground between rationalists and reflectivists, marginalisation of extreme rational choice and deconstructivists, and an English School revival; he argues incommensurability should be rejected through a post-structuralist critique of commensurability, and IR needs new images beyond the triangle.

Methods

  • Theoretical, conceptual, and historical essay rather than an empirical study; no sample or dataset is used.
  • Analyzes IR self-images and debates from the first to the fourth debate, drawing on textbooks, key works (Kuhn, Lapid, Keohane, Waltz, Ruggie, and others), and tables (7.1–7.4) comparing paradigms and debates.
  • Main analysis is interpretive mapping and critique of “incommensurability” and the three-paradigm triangle, proposing four debates and a constructivist/post-structuralist alternative.

Limitations

  • The paper does not include a formal limitations section; it acknowledges that its four-debate argument is unconventional and contrary to established wisdom that there is no fourth debate.
  • Evident from the text: no systematic empirical data or case selection; it relies on secondary literature and the author’s interpretive periodisation, so claims about debate timing and disciplinary consensus are not empirically tested.
  • Evident: the argument is normative/prescriptive in aiming to reshape disciplinary self-reflection, and some claims are hedged (“probably,” “I would suggest”), limiting falsifiability.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/cbo9780511660054.009

Cites

0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

82 Own interpretation · 23 Sources not found · 11 No basis given · 4 Not checked yet

Show all 30 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 66
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 50
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 7
90 of 90
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Scientific progress is a relevant goal for International Relations and is blocked by incommensurable paradigms.

    “the image of 'incommensurable' paradigms is a block to scientific progress”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The discipline's debates can be periodized into four great debates.

    “The first great debate in IR was that of idealism versus realism in the 1940s and the second was behaviouralism versus traditionalism in the 1950s-1960s.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The standard textbook presentation of IR as three paradigms is a sufficiently dominant target for critique.

    “A standard textbook presentation of International Relations (IR) has it that there are three paradigms, three dominant schools.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    All theories are ultimately talking about the same reality out there.

    “Based on realist premises (i.e. that all theories are ultimately talking about the same reality out there)”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Communication takes place all the time, so human beings experience that it makes sufficient sense for us (or most of us) to go on.

    “But communication takes place all the time, so obviously human beings experience that it makes sufficient sense for us (or most of us) to go on.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The fourth debate is between rationalists and reflectivists.

    “contestants of the fourth debate (rationalists and reflectivists)”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The inter-paradigm debate was a debate of the 1970s-early 1980s.

    “the inter-paradigm debate'should be retained as a very informative metaphor for telling discipline history about the 1970s-early 1980s.”
7 of 7

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

3 of 3

Citations

Cites

The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.

Research works printed but not linked: 50

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  2. Baldwin, David (ed.) (1993), Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate (New York: Columbia University Press).
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  5. (1986), The International Relations Discipline: Asset or Liability for Conflict Resolution', in E. A. Azar and J. W. Burton (eds.), International Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (Sussex: Wheatsheaf), pp. 5-27.
  6. Bernstein, Richard J. (1991), The New Constellation: The Ethical-Political Horizons of Modernity/Postmodernity (Cambridge: Polity Press).
  7. Buzan, Barry, Little, Richard and Jones, Charles (1993), The Logic of Anarchy: Neorealism to Structural Realism (New York: Columbia University Press).
  8. Der Derian, James (1987), On Diplomacy: A Genealogy of Western Estrangement (Oxford: Blackwell).
  9. Derrida, Jacques (1977 [1972]), Signature Event Context', Glyph, 1, pp. 172–97. (1978 [1967]), Writing and Difference (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
  10. (1987), The Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
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  12. Guzzini, Stefano (1988), T. S. Kuhn and International Relations: International Political Economy and the Inter-Paradigm Debate, London School of Economics and Political Science: unpublished MA thesis.
  13. (1992), The Continuing Story of a Death Foretold: Realism in International Relations/International Political Economy (Florence: European University Institute Working Paper SPS 92/20; revised version forthcoming at Routledge).
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  15. Hermann, Charles F. and Peacock, Gregory (1987), 'The Evolution and Future of Theoretical Research in the Comparative Study of Foreign Policy', in Charles F. Hermann, Charles W. Kegley and James N. Rosenau (eds.), New Directions in the Study of Foreign Policy (Boston: Allen & Unwin), pp. 13–32.
  16. Hoffmann, Stanley (1977), An American School Science: International Relations', Dædalus, 106 (3), pp. 41–60.
  17. (1986), 'The Horsemen of the Apocalypse: At the Gate, Detoured, or Retreating?', International Studies Quarterly, 30 (4), pp. 355–71.
  18. (1988 [1967]), International Politics: A Framework for Analysis, 5th edition (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall).
  19. (1993), 'International Relations at the End of the Millennium', Review of International Studies, 19 (4), pp. 401–8.
  20. Janis, Irving and Mann, Leon (1977), Decision Making: A Psychological Analysis of Conflict, Choice and Commitment (New York: Free Press).
  21. Jervis, Robert (1970), The Logic of Images in International Relations (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
  22. (1976), Perception and Misperception in International Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
  23. Keohane, Robert (1989), International Institutions and State Power: Essays in International Relations Theory (Boulder, CO: Westview Press).
  24. (1993a), 'Institutionalist Theory and the Realist Challenge: After the Cold War', in David Baldwin (ed.), Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate (New York: Columbia University Press).
  25. (1993b), Hobbes's Dilemma and Institutional Change in World Politics: Sovereignty in International Society, Paper presented at the Conference on Economic and Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific: Agendas for the 1990s, Canberra, 28–30 July.
  26. Knorr, Klaus and Rosenau, James N. (eds.) (1969), Contending Approaches to International Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
  27. Knudsen, Tonny Brems (1994), Det Nye Europa: Orden eller Kaos?, University of Aarhus: MA thesis.
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  30. (1970b), 'Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research', in Imre Lakatos and Alan Musgrave (eds.), Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 1–23.
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  32. (1993), 'Foreword' to Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Reconstructing Scientific Revolutions: Thomas S. Kuhn's Philosophy of Science (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
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Metadata

Authors
Wæver, O.
Corresponding author
Wæver, Ole
Venue
International Theory
Published
1996-06-13
Pages
149-185
OpenAlex
W1547679982
Cited by
339
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 18
FWCI
21.26
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Relations and Foreign Policy
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
Keywords
realism, liberalism, Marxism, radicalism, structuralism, globalism, neorealism, neoliberalism, international relations theory, individual versus group, Kuhn

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