Knowledge and Expertise in International Politics

This superbly conceived and masterfully executed Handbook is a must-read for every scholar and student of International Relations with any serious concern for how knowledge is gained, curated, contested, and deployed in the conflicting worlds of international thought, practice, and action. That this is the new state of the art in the social and political epistemology of international politics brings the exhilarating and comforting realisation that we have, at last, forged a homegrown self-knowledge fit for the realities and challenges of the twenty-first century. * Inanna Hamati-Ataya, Chair of Global International Relations, University of Groningen *Knowledge and expertise transform our worlds and drive global politics. This luminous handbook shows us how. Carefully curated and panoramic in scope, its chapters provide a concise overview of key theoretical perspectives, empirical results, and methodological frontiers across fields. Essential reading for anyone seeking fresh perspectives on how knowledge shapes the future of international relations. * Christian Bueger, Professor of International Relations, University of Copenhagen *This Handbook on ‘Knowledge and Expertise in International Politics’ offers a powerful reflection on knowledge, and the production of knowledge, from a diversity of theoretical and methodological commitments. From the role of the scholar to the crisis of theory to the politics of ignorance and covering individual, institutional, and global entanglements, this Handbook is necessary reading for all those interested in questions of epistemology, power, and expertise in International Politics. * Gurminder K. Bhambra, Professor of Historical Sociology, University of Sussex *This excellent volume brings together the state of the art in critical engagement with the problem of knowledge and expertise in international politics. This question has been at the centre of efforts to make IR a more worldly and democratic field, and we should be training all our students to understand and engage this problem in depth. This indispensable resource showcases an outstanding roster of influential authors from around the world, enabling readers to master this fascinating and complex area of research. * Meera Sabaratnam, Associate Professor in International Relations, University of Oxford *This is a brilliantly curated selection of contributions, providing the definitive guide to scholarship on the international politics of knowledge. It deftly integrates insights from across diverse methodological and theoretical perspectives, to provide an essential companion to anyone interested in the ‘epistemic turn’ in international relations. * Christina Boswell, Professor of Politics, University of Edinburgh *

Berit Bliesemann de Guevara is Professor of International Politics and Co-Founder of the Centre for the International Politics of Knowledge at Aberystwyth University. She has been the principal investigator and co-investigator of projects studying the role of knowledge and expertise in and after violent conflict in Colombia and Myanmar and of international research networks on knowledge in conflict, funded by UK and German research councils.

Katarzyna Kaczmarska is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests centre on knowledge construction among scholars and practitioners of international politics, the theory and practice of academic freedom, and post-Soviet politics, as well as the ways in which socio-political contexts influence academic knowledge-making and use. She is the author of Making Global Knowledge in Local Contexts (Routledge, 2020).

Xymena Kurowska is Associate Professor in International Relations at Central European University in Vienna. She received her doctorate in political and social sciences from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and works within International Political Sociology, using social and security theory, psychosocial and anthropological approaches, and relational and interpretive methodologies.

Birgit Poopuu is Associate Professor of International Relations and co-director of the Central and Eastern European Security Hub (CEESHub) at Tallinn University’s School of Governance, Law, and Society. Her research is curious about the role of radical and nonviolent knowledge and experience within international politics, with a focus on feminist and decolonial approaches to peace and conflict studies. She is the Principal Investigator of the European Horizon Twinning grant “A critical relational perspective on peace & security in CEE”.

Andrea Warnecke is Assistant Professor in History and International Studies at Leiden University’s Institute for History. She holds a PhD in political and social sciences from the European University Institute, Florence. Her research on the practices of international organizations in peace and conflict is informed by several years of experience as a senior researcher and consultant on conflict, peacebuilding, and migration in think tanks, NGOs, and on behalf of government agencies and international organizations.