Description
What is worldmaking? Disciplinary International Relations (IR) has seen a profusion of interest in this concept, and it currently enjoys novel disciplinary application. It has been used to advance a wide range of studies including on counterinsurgency, post-hegemonic nuclear affairs, international law, post-colonial institution-building, and progressive grand strategy. Worldmaking’s enormous range of potential applications has incurred perhaps justifiable criticism that it remains too diffuse a concept with little clarity as to its different modes of application. Consequently, this paper will advance a new conceptual approach to worldmaking, consisting of three parts: aggregation, coherence, and construction. Aggregation refers to the process of drawing together fragments of an existing world, usually in response to some kind of disaggregating shock or trauma compelling reassembly of a new world. Coherence refers to the process of relating those fragments in novel ways to one another, so that they might be used to constitute a new, internally-consistent world, often disciplined around the priorities and objectives of the worldmaker. Finally, the process of construction refers to the ‘real-world’ steps taken to build a world reflecting the mental model built in the first two phases. This model represents a significant step forwards in advancing novel IR theory.
