The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research

In view of the major methodological challenges which confront researchers in public diplomacy (PD), the paper recognizes the method of comparative-historical analysis (CHA) as an eminently suitable approach for robust empirical studies. The paper starts by exploring different conceptualizations and operationalizations of public diplomacy. Subsequently, four defining characteristics of CHA are identified: (1) CHA starts from a positivist epistemological perspective; (2) CHA-based research usually is concerned with “big questions;” (3) comparative methods are applied in CHA, either across different cases or within cases across time, allowing for in-depth analyses; (4) by considering respective starting points, specific historical developments, and cultural particulars, CHA is committed to methods drawn from historical research, including process tracing and causal narrative. The paper demonstrates that CHA, in view of these characteristics and with its highly interdisciplinary pedigree and methodological eclecticism, is eminently suited for studies exploring PD practices and outcomes. To provide a tailor-made approach for such endeavors, CHA is innovatively combined with the method of structured, focused comparison. Finally, drawing on both the different operationalizations of PD and the requirements of CHA, a comprehensive matrix for CHA-based PD research is presented, offering a tangible framework for future empirical analyses.

Methodological Eclecticism: Feminist-Pragmatist Reflections on Re/centering Muslims in Research about Islam

For over a decade, researchers have consistently asserted that Muslims in the West are ‘research weary’ (Sangera and Thapar- Bjökert 2008: 544), ‘tired of too much research about them’ (Alvi et al. 2003: p. xv) and are concerned about ‘not being given the opportunity to shape research that is about them (Scott-Baumann et al. 2020). Research on Muslim in Britain and in the West are further complicated by social hierarchies and popular discourses that often position Muslims as the ‘different other’. Working within a feminist-pragmatist epistemological framework this chapter will bring together methodological reflections from a decade of research of Islam and Muslims in the West. It asserts the need for research paradigms that are grounded in partnership and positionality, and which maintain intellectual rigour while also being accountable to the people who are the subjects of research.

FEMINIST ART GRIZELDY POLLOK AS A CHALLENGE TO THE ART OF THE PAST

The theoretical work of one of the founders and leading figures of modern feminist art Griselda Pollock is considered. Representing researchers whose ideas were shaped by the radical cultural and social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, she belongs to the second generation of feminist art criticism. The author points to the eclectic methodological position of G. Pollock, which combines a number of areas associated with its "radicalism" in relation to the classical areas of art history and social thought. In particular, it is Marxism, poststructuralism of R. Bart and M. Foucault, Freudian psychoanalysis etc. Methodological eclecticism G. Pollock suggests that the leading in her work is her ideological attitude, rather than research position. Although G. Pollock's theoretical constructions are formally based on specific biographical and art studies of artists of the past, methodological eclecticism does not allow to characterize them as scientific or at least consistently logical in their construction. The author concludes that substantively, the concept of G. Pollock is based on the interpretation of female (and male) principles in the artist's work as a gender category, defined by the prevailing social roles and stereotypes in society. G. Pollock uses the concept of "bourgeoisie" in relation to the culture of the masculine society of the past; attempts to develop the concept of "death of the author" by R. Bart in the interpretation of the socially determined figure of the artist (on the example of W. Van Gogh); quite arbitrarily uses the apparatus of Freudian psychoanalysis to read ("deconstruct") works of art, in particular, paintings by W. Van Gogh and A. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Thus, G. Pollock turns feminist art criticism into an ideological platform for the development of a range of ideological and theoretical currents, united by their radicalism and opposition to classical art and the ideological foundations of modern civilization as a whole.

Exploring BA students’ intercultural awareness and their expectations of translation courses

The aim of the research in this paper is to investigate how the third- and fourth-year BA students of English as a foreign language perceive what they should be provided with in new translation courses that Pale Faculty of Philosophy (Department of English) is introducing, and to explore their perception about the difficulties in the process of gaining the translational competence. The premise is that the students are not sufficiently aware of the translation as a part of intercultural communication, and the cross-cultural elements that it should be focusing on. The survey also relates to on the teaching methods and styles most commonly used in translation courses, the results they are providing, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The results of the research may serve as a reliable basis for enhancement of the teaching process and the translation competence acquisition process, first and foremost through methodological eclecticism, then raising the awareness of intercultural components in translation and encouraging the communicative approach to teaching, through a positive classroom atmosphere creation. In the end, several points are made on how to raise the awareness of the students in the process of intercultural competence development.

Introducing Sufism to International Relations Theory: A preliminary inquiry into epistemological, ontological, and methodological pathways

One of the most commonly treaded pathways to address the widely recognized Eurocentric biases in International Relations has been the initiation of intellectual efforts toward the incorporation of non-Western world views. However, the greater assimilation of knowledge produced by non-Western scholars from local philosophical-experiential vantage points — that is, the integration of Chinese, Indian, or Brazilian outlooks expressed under the rubric “non-Western International Relations” — cannot make International Relations less Eurocentric or more “Global” if the following slippery grounds are overlooked: (1) if non-Western International Relations theories employ non-Western philosophical resources for generating a derivative discourse of Western/Eurocentric International Relations theories, thereby failing to transcend the conjectural boundaries of Western/Eurocentric International Relations; and (2) if non-Western International Relations theories manufacture an exceptionalist discourse that is specifically applicable to the narrow experiential realities of a native time–space zone, thereby failing to offer an alternative universalist explanation that grants a broad-spectrum relevance to Western/Eurocentric International Relations. In the light of these realizations, the present article aims to explore if “Sufism” — as a non-Western intellectual resource — is capable of offering a fertile ground for crafting a non-derivative and non-exceptionalist Global International Relations theory. In order to do this, the article employs the insights gained from the poetry of a 13th-century Sufi scholar, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. The article draws the conclusion that Sufism, as an established philosophy with a grand temporal-spatial global spread, upholds a “threefold attribute” — namely, epistemological monism, ontological immaterialism, and methodological eclecticism — which gives it a unique foundational status to formulate a non-Eurocentric Global International Relations theory.

La ginnastica come disciplina della scuola elementare negli anni dell’unificazione italiana. Una proposta di «ri-contestualizzazione» storiografica

The contribution aims to suggest some research paths to begin a study on Gymnastics in the primary school during the years of Italian unification, starting from the analysis of the well-known literature which have dealt with physical activities in that period. Many of these publications – often arising from a non-academic intention and, in any case, characterized by a thematic and methodological eclecticism – are influenced by a historiographical tradition that has studied physical education without a specific attention on the elementary school. Therefore, the essay proposes a «re-contextualization» of the research that focuses on school Gymnastics and examines this topic according to a consistent heuristic view. Even on the basis of studies that have already taken a similar approach, it points out the new sources to be used and outlines new interpretative perspectives that, complying with the most recent instances of educational historiography, can reconstruct the first steps of Gymnastics as a discipline in the curriculum of Italian primary school.

A Principled Complementarity of Method: In Defence of Methodological Eclecticism and the Qualitative-Quantitative Debate

I found PhD study to be a stimulating, challenging and ideal conduit for exploring knowledge via discussion, argument and defence: to have the opportunity to explore method, methodology, epistemology, ontology and what may constitute 'acceptable' research practice is an enriching experience. I had previously heard of intepretivists decrying positivists et cetera, but I was unprepared to find quantitative researchers and lecturers openly dismissing qualitative approaches, and finding dismissals by qualitative researchers of the use of a quantitative approach: such are disappointing and confusing to a trainee researcher. Thus, a far less enriching experience for a trainee researcher is being faced with assumptions and preferences of experienced researchers that extend from defending approach to decrying any approaches that may not be aligned to their own. As a result, this paper will focus upon the quantitative-qualitative debate (QQD) and offer a critical evaluation upon the issues surrounding affiliations between method and epistemological paradigm. It will also question the validity of 'traditional' divides between qualitative and quantitative methods. This discussion will facilitate an answer to the question: 'can the researcher complement quantitative with qualitative method - and vice versa - within the same research paradigm and subsequent design'? I will explore here a claim that no more than a rhetorical link exists between method and epistemology and that the 'distinctions' between quantitative and qualitative methods are often erroneous and do not always reflect differing paradigmatic assumptions. Further, I will suggest quantitative and qualitative methods be used in a complementary fashion as opposed to an integrated approach. I will further claim that the quantitative-qualitative debate has much to offer trainee researchers and should thus be kept open, as long as unprejudiced and tolerant discussion is encouraged.

La dottrina internazionalistica italiana e la tutela internazionale dei diritti dell'uomo (1945-2005)

This paper is aimed at providing an overview of the general trends of the Italian international law scholarship concerning the international protection of human rights during the period from 1945 to 2005. The idea is advanced that human rights have been considered (with one exception) only in the framework of some general issues of international law between 1945 and 1960 (para. 2), whereas human rights issues have been managed increasingly as autonomous legal issues, starting from 1960 (para. 3). Between 1970 and 1987, Italian scholars have mainly focused on judicial or quasi-judicial aspects of the international protection of human rights; at the same time, a widespread attitude to submit human rights-oriented thesis has arisen (para. 4). Moreover, some different methodological approaches have progressively been elaborated (ibid.). These tendencies increased during the period between 1987 and 2005, due to the establishment of some human rights-journals, as well as to the large attention paid by scholars to criminal international law issues and to the impact of human rights on some traditional legal issues (para. 5). Some critical remarks are made in paragraph 6, aimed at stressing the different features of the above mentioned approaches. Furthermore it is shown that, regardless of these differences, a certain methodological eclecticism has come to prevail. It is also maintained that the Italian international law scholarship cannot be considered as "human rightist" ("Droits-de-l'-hommiste"), in spite of the said attitude to advance human rights-oriented thesis.