Case study research and critical IR: the case for the extended case methodology

TY - JOUR

T1 - Case study research and critical IR: the case for the extended case methodology

AU - Roccu, Roberto

AU - Lai, Daniela

PY - 2019/1/8

Y1 - 2019/1/8

N2 - Discussions on case study methodology in International Relations (IR) have historically been dominated by positivist and neopositivist approaches. However, these are problematic for critical IR research, pointing to the need for a non-positivist case study methodology. To address this issue, this paper introduces and adapts the extended case methodology as a critical, reflexivist approach to case study research, whereby the case is constructed through a dynamic interaction with theory, rather than selected, and knowledge is produced through extensions rather than generalisation. Insofar as it seeks to study the world in complex and non-linear terms, take context and positionality seriously, and generate explicitly political and emancipatory knowledge, the extended case methodology is consistent with the ontological and epistemological commitments of several critical IR approaches. Its potential is illustrated in the final part of the paper with reference to researching the socio-economic dimension of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

AB - Discussions on case study methodology in International Relations (IR) have historically been dominated by positivist and neopositivist approaches. However, these are problematic for critical IR research, pointing to the need for a non-positivist case study methodology. To address this issue, this paper introduces and adapts the extended case methodology as a critical, reflexivist approach to case study research, whereby the case is constructed through a dynamic interaction with theory, rather than selected, and knowledge is produced through extensions rather than generalisation. Insofar as it seeks to study the world in complex and non-linear terms, take context and positionality seriously, and generate explicitly political and emancipatory knowledge, the extended case methodology is consistent with the ontological and epistemological commitments of several critical IR approaches. Its potential is illustrated in the final part of the paper with reference to researching the socio-economic dimension of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

KW - case studies

KW - critical International Relations

KW - extended case methodology

KW - methodology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85059942517

U2 - 10.1177/0047117818818243

DO - 10.1177/0047117818818243

M3 - Article

SN - 0047-1178

VL - 33

SP - 67

EP - 87

JO - International Relations

JF - International Relations

IS - 1

ER -