History, action and identity: Revisiting the ‘Second’ Great Debate and assessing its importance for Social Theory

Este artículo aborda el tema de la naturaleza del conocimiento en los asuntos prácticos. Tradicionalmente esta cuestión ha sido abordada recurriendo a la construcción teórica [“theory-building”] y poniendo en juego una serie de criterios epistemológicos independientes que, supuestamente, garantizan los postulados formulados dentro de un marco teórico. En este contexto, la universalidad, entendida como generalidad, y la fiabilidad de los “datos” a lo largo de la historia son criterios particularmente poderosos que establecen la “verdad” de las proposiciones teóricas por medio de “tests” y, así, contribuyen a acumular “conocimiento”. Pero este ideal del conocimiento “teórico” malinterpreta de forma significativa tanto el tipo de conocimiento que necesitamos para adoptar decisiones prácticas, como el de la “historia” para constituirnos en agentes. Al utilizar el argumento de Bull del segundo debate como contrapunto, y al revisar también las controversias relativas a la paz democrática y al papel de los estudios macro-históricos, primero me centro en la naturaleza de la “historicidad” y la situacionalidad [situatedness] de todo el conocimiento práctico. En segundo lugar, intento clarificar cómo el conocimiento del pasado que se relaciona con las elecciones prácticas en esa “historia” no es simplemente un almacén de datos fijos, sino un producto de la memoria, la cual está profundamente implicada tanto en nuestras construcciones de la identidad como de los proyectos políticos que perseguimos. En tercer lugar, esbozaré los criterios para la generación de conocimiento que son más apropiados cuando afrontamos problemas prácticosThis article raises the issue about the nature of knowledge in practical matters. Traditionally this question has been answered by pointing to ‘theory-building’ and to field independent epistemological criteria that are supposed to provide the knowledge warrants for the assertions made within a theoretical framework. In this context universality, i.e. generality and transhistorical reliability of the ‘data’, are particularly powerful criteria that establish the ‘truth’ of theoretical propositions through ‘tests’ and thus contribute to cumulative ‘knowledge’. But this ideal of ‘theoretical’ knowledge significantly misunderstands both the type of knowledge we need when we make practical choices and that of ‘history’ in constituting us as agents. In using Bull’s argument in the second debate as a foil, and in revisiting also the controversies concerning the democratic peace and the role of macro-historical studies I first elaborate on the nature of the ‘historicity’ and situatedness of all practical knowledge. In a second step, I attempt to clarify how the knowledge of the past relates to practical choices in that ‘history’ is not simply a storehouse of fixed data, but a product of memory, which in turn is deeply involved in our constructions of identity and of the political projects we pursue. In a third step I adumbrate the criteria for knowledge generation that are more appropriate when we face practical problem

International Organization: A State of the Art on an Art of the State

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Diasporic Security and Jewish Identity

This paper explores the relationship between identity and security through an investigation into Jewish diasporic identity. The paper argues that the convention of treating identity as an objective referent of security is problematic, as the Jewish diaspora experience demonstrates. The paper presents a new way of conceptualizing identity and security by introducing the concept of diasporic security. Diasporic security reflects the geographical experience of being a member of a trans-state community, of having a fluid identity that is shaped by sometimes contradictory discourses emanating from a community that resides both at home and abroad. In introducing the concept of diasporic security, the paper makes use of literature in Diaspora Studies, Security Studies, recent works in contemporary political theory and sociology, and Woody Allen's film, Deconstructing Harry (1997)