Who Fears the Linguistic Turn?
This article is a reflection on the “practice turn” in the study of world politics based on the article by Vincent Pouliot. We take advantage of this forum to examine his plea for a practice turn in ir (which he dubs the “logic of practicality”) in light of disciplinary politics. We argue that his article constitutes a political intervention in the ir field with a view to making the idea of a practice turn acceptable to the mainstream. Our text is divided into three parts : 1) A brief look at the linguistic turn—to which the practice turn is presented as a counterpoint—with a reference to the constructivism-poststructuralism divide ; 2) an exploration of Pouliot’s argument, as well as his intentions, limits, and the sobjective epistemology underpinning his interpretive methodology ; and 3) a critique of sobjectivism as a barrier preventing the discipline from incorporating the richness of detail found in ethnographic studies, and as a political act favouring a scientistic vision of the field.