Practice Theory and International Relations Cambridge Studies in International Relations Series

Are social practices actions, or institutional frameworks of interaction structured by common rules? How do social practices such as signing a cheque differ from international practices such as signing a peace treaty? Traversing the fields of international relations (IR) and philosophy, this book defends an institutionalist conception of practices as part of a general practice theory indebted to Oakeshott, Wittgenstein and Hegel. The proposed practice theory has two core aspects: practice internalism and normative descriptivism. In developing a philosophical analysis of social practices that has a special relevance for international relations, Silviya Lechner and Mervyn Frost depart from Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of practice that dominates the current 'practice turn' in IR. The authors show that the contemporary global realm is constituted by two distinct macro practices - the practice of sovereign states and that of global rights.

Introduction: mapping out the problem of practices; Part I. A Philosophical Analysis of Social Practices: 1. Practice theory: a preliminary view; 2. Bourdieu and the practice turn in international relations; 3. Practice theory: a basic philosophical template; Part II. Practices in International Relations: 4. Two core practices in international relations: a neo-Hegelian perspective; 5. The dialectic of global practices; 6. Practice theory, macro practices and the study of international relations.

Silviya Lechner is a visiting researcher at King's College London, Department of War Studies, where she was previously a lecturer. She specialises in international relations theory and philosophy, especially social and political philosophy and philosophy of action. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of International Political Theory, the Review of International Studies, International Studies Review, Oxford Research Encyclopaedia on International Studies, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy and The American Journal of Bioethics.
Mervyn Frost is Professor of International Relations in the Department of War Studies, King's College London and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. His monographs include: Towards a Normative Theory of International Relations (Cambridge, 1986), Ethics in International Relations (Cambridge, 1996), Constituting Human Rights: Global Civil Society and the Society of Democratic States (2002) and Global Ethics: Anarchy, Freedom and International Relations (2008). He edited a 4 volume reference book of articles entitled International Ethics (2011).