Conversations on Technology and IR

Abstract

The introduction to Technologies of International Relations sets the scene for the volume’s ‘conversations’ between different generations of International Relations theory (IR) scholars. It outlines the growing centrality of technological questions to the investigation of international relations and world politics, the presence of a tradition of engagement with technology throughout the ‘classics’ of IR, and the need for a renewed discussion on this theme at the core of the discipline. Building on a report from two distinguished scholars panels at the International Studies Association in 2015 and 2016, the chapter advocates for a renewed approach to technology that strides a thoughtful mediation between the heights of past achievements and the current generation of creative and critical thought.