What is it about?
This article argues that the separation between normative political theory, empirical political science, and political practice is artificial and should be challenged. Drawing on hermeneutic insights from Hans Georg Gadamer, Charles Taylor, and later interpretive scholarship, it develops an interpretive framework that integrates normative commitments into the analysis of political debates. The article applies this framework to key debates on inclusion and diversity and illustrates its use through an interpretation of the European Parliament’s debate on opening accession negotiations with Turkey.
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Why is it important?
Much political research seeks to describe or explain political outcomes while bracketing normative commitments. This article shows what is lost when ethical orientations are excluded from analysis and what can be gained by treating them as constitutive of political meaning. By offering a systematic way to identify and interpret normative commitments within political texts and debates, the article provides tools for richer analysis of political communities, conflict, and contestation over inclusion and diversity.
Perspectives
This article reflects my interest in challenging rigid disciplinary boundaries and in taking political actors’ normative commitments seriously as part of political analysis rather than as external evaluations. I approach inclusion and diversity not only as policy issues but as ethical questions embedded in interpretive practices. The study is motivated by a concern that political science risks missing central dimensions of political life when ethics and interpretation are treated as analytically separate from empirical inquiry.
Professor Sara Beth Kahn-Nisser
Open University of Israel
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Toward a Unity of Ethics and Practice: Interpreting Inclusion and Diversity, International Studies Review, September 2011, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2486.2011.01048.x.
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