Pinja Lehtonen,
How Quantum Ontology and Q Methodology Can Revitalise Agency in IR
Číslo: 3/2019
Periodikum: New Perspectives
Klíčová slova: Agency, Alexander Wendt, International Relations, Subjectivity, Q Methodology, Quantum Physics
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Anotace:
This article brings Alexander Wendt’s (2015) ‘quantum social ontology’ into the realm of
empirical International Relations (IR) research by coupling it with Q methodology. It shows
how Wendt’s ontology and Q methodology share a central interest in complex agency
and are inherently allied in terms of principles and purposes. The quantum view has catalysed
conversation within IR and social sciences more broadly, but that debate has remained
almost exclusively on a theoretical level. This article shows that there is potential
for empirical research in this area regardless of whether one considers the quantum view
to be an analogy or ontological reality. Q methodology’s grounding ideas align with quantum
physics and the quantum social ontology, e.g. in the fashion it conceives of subjective
states of mind and their measurement. Practical examples of Q methodological work are
presented to illustrate the quantum concepts in a social scientific setting. The article argues
for a broader study of political subjectivity within IR through a notion of personhood,
which opens up vast potentialities for agency as well as for breaking free of determinism,
and fixed notions of human nature as well as ostensibly fixed understandings of advantaged
or disadvantaged subject positions.
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empirical International Relations (IR) research by coupling it with Q methodology. It shows
how Wendt’s ontology and Q methodology share a central interest in complex agency
and are inherently allied in terms of principles and purposes. The quantum view has catalysed
conversation within IR and social sciences more broadly, but that debate has remained
almost exclusively on a theoretical level. This article shows that there is potential
for empirical research in this area regardless of whether one considers the quantum view
to be an analogy or ontological reality. Q methodology’s grounding ideas align with quantum
physics and the quantum social ontology, e.g. in the fashion it conceives of subjective
states of mind and their measurement. Practical examples of Q methodological work are
presented to illustrate the quantum concepts in a social scientific setting. The article argues
for a broader study of political subjectivity within IR through a notion of personhood,
which opens up vast potentialities for agency as well as for breaking free of determinism,
and fixed notions of human nature as well as ostensibly fixed understandings of advantaged
or disadvantaged subject positions.