Acting, representing, ruling : a conversation with my critics on social reproduction and the logic of social inquiry

Abstract

In this concluding chapter, Friedrich Kratochwil replies to his critics. The first cluster of comments pivots around the notion of ‘theory’ and the relation between practising theory and going on in situations, individually and collectively. Kratochwil rejects the view that theorizing could provide us with something like an unadulterated ‘view from nowhere’. He explains that if we act in order to achieve something, we are not simply observers of the world. Theorizing, properly conceived, is a form of critical intervention. Kratochwil then addresses problems that revolve around the conception of the ‘we’ in social, political and legal practices. He concedes that repeated interaction, role-taking and communication are necessary parts of both individuation and socialization but insists that for the reproduction of a society and a body politic, more needs to happen. Beyond communication and cooperation on practical tasks, the members need to make a commitment to the ‘project’ of remaining a group and accept the transgenerational nature of their concerns.