Putting the “Logic of Practicality” to the Test
This article is a critical reflection on the “logic ofpracticality” developed by Vincent Pouliot, who has contributedto the advance of international relations theory over the past tenyears. Drawing on their own work, the authors formulate three questionsrespecting the logic of practicality. First, they question theentrenchment of the logic of practicality with reflexive logic inPouliot’s theoretical construction. Second, they consider itsmethodological operationalization. And finally, they examine the statusof empirical data and its use. In acknowledging the break advocated byPouliot, the authors urge readers to contemplate other “logics ofpracticality” and draw even more extensively on ethnographicfield research to renew international relations theory.