Description
The relationship between theory and international relations (IR) remains a tumultuous one due to the theoretical-practical divide between theory and IR. The challenges to integrating theory in IR are exacerbated when dimensions such as coloniality, eurocentrism, and methodological monism enter the debate. Political theory addresses some of the challenges through methodologies like comparative political theory (CPT), creolization, and de-parochialization in political practice. These methodologies enjoy widespread support in post-colonial scholarship and Global IR scholarship welcoming the decolonial/pluralistic turn in IR. Through this essay, I explore the potential of CPT for IR theory and opportunities for partnership and collaboration between the two. I argue that CPT and its potential for IR scholarship remain underutilized because of the general aversion of IR to theory and the applicational value of CPT to IR. The CPT methodology enriches the IR canon by pluralizing the IR theory and creolizing IR practice.
