ABSTRACT
What is the relationship between theoretical knowledge and political ideology? Ever a concern of social theory, this question may be posed with renewed urgency today. New lines of global political conflict have brought into view fundamentally different conceptions of international politics, and the neutrality of academic expertise has increasingly come to be questioned by political actors. Both developments point to the need for greater reflexivity about the role of international theory in the world. Taking stock of the literature in International Relations, our introductory chapter lays out the broader framework for enquiring into theory-as-ideology. We distinguish three crucial tasks of such enquiry and introduce the three corresponding sections of the volume.
