The Logic of Practicality
This article explores the theoretical implications of the logic of practicality in world politics. In social and political life, practices do not primarily derive from instrumental rationality, norm-following or communicative action. These three logics of social action suffer from a representational bias in that they focus on what agents think about instead of what they think from. According to the logic of practicality, practices rather are the result of inarticulate know-how which makes appear what is to be done self-evident or commonsensical. Building on insights from philosophy, psychology and especially Bourdieu’s sociology, the article develops a theory of practice of security communities arguing that peace exists in and through practice when security officials’ practical sense makes diplomacy the self-evident way to solving interstate disputes.