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Two Faces of the “Relational Turn”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2016

Peeter Selg
Peeter Selg*
Affiliation:
Tallinn University
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Abstract

In the previous decade, the literature on “relational approach” has burgeoned in the social sciences. Recently, a “relational turn” in political science was called for in a symposium in this journal (McClurg and Young, 2011). The participants perceived a promising path for such a “turn” by introducing social network analysis (SNA) into political science. This call is informed by a conviction that the central concept of political science— that is, power—is relational. Considering this viewpoint, this article argues that there are two different understandings of the connection between the qualifier “relational” and the concept of power, referred to as the “Anglo-American” and the “Continental” perspectives. I contend that symposium participants conceived of the connection from only the Anglo-American perspective and that the Continental understanding would add extra value for political science.

Type
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PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 27 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2016 

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