ABSTRACT
The Anthropocene enters the field of International Relations (IR) as a rupture that has significant repercussions for classical IR theory, in declaring a crisis of the liberal world order, acknowledging other species besides human agency and requesting new problem-solving strategies. Its call for a different understanding of ‘the political’ provides ontological and epistemological challenges for the discipline. This chapter discusses strategies for theory development in the field of IR and argues that theories of IR need transformation to conceptualise the Anthropocene challenge. An ongoing debate that evolved around the ‘Manifesto for the end of IR’ (Burke et al. 2016) serves as a reference point for identifying ‘Holocene’ features within IR theories. This builds the ground for a more in-depth discussion regarding the Anthropocene’s systemic, normative and governance implications for theory development and IR research agenda. This refers especially to Holocene and Anthropocene conceptualisations of the international system, actors and agency beyond man and state, as well as modes of governance and problem-solving strategies.
