ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches the problem of theory from a sociology of scientific knowledge perspective and enquires into the roles the designation theory plays in identifying and structuring the IR discipline and assessing academic production within it. Whereas describing an element of scholarship or a body of thought as ideological is usually aimed at discrediting it, the word theory is used to elevate the status of an idea or argument and to reaffirm its scientificity. Relying on Pierre Bourdieu’s reflection on the processes that shape the scientific field, I suggest that the continued preoccupation with theory and frequent overpromising related to the theory’s explanatory potential can be linked to the perceived need of justifying IR as a scientific profession and ensuring the respectability of IR among other social scientific disciplines. This ‘defensive’ attitude prevents IR scholars from approaching theories as cultural products that arise from specific socio-political contexts and have status-building functions in scholarly communities.
