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American Centricity in International Relations: Institutional Dominance, Publishing Concentration and the Structure of the Theoretical Field

Uluslararası İlişkilerde Amerikan Merkezliliği: Kurumsal Hâkimiyet, Yayıncılık Yoğunlaşması ve Teorik Alanın Yapısı

İbrahim Kurnaz(SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İKTİSADİ VE İDARİ BİLİMLER FAKÜLTESİ, ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER BÖLÜMÜ)0000-0001-7228-6536
Pages
113–132
Publication Date
2026-03-23
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings show that the IR discipline still maintains its American-centeredness through existing structural inequalities.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The assumption that the discipline of International Relations is a US centric social science has been a subject of debate among International Relations scholars since Stanley Hoffmann's claim.
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Key Findings & Data:In fact, these debates, which began with criticisms of US centrism, have encouraged calls for a more inclusive understanding of IR and have evolved into calls for greater inclusion of the ‘periphery’ in the discipline and for ‘Global IR’.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings show that the IR discipline still maintains its American-centeredness through existing structural inequalities.
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Uluslararası İlişkiler Disiplini · ABD Hâkimiyeti · Stanley Hoffmann

Abstract

The assumption that the discipline of International Relations is a US centric social science has been a subject of debate among International Relations scholars since Stanley Hoffmann's claim. In fact, these debates, which began with criticisms of US centrism, have encouraged calls for a more inclusive understanding of IR and have evolved into calls for greater inclusion of the ‘periphery’ in the discipline and for ‘Global IR’. In this vein, the aim of this study is to rekindle the debate by systematically investigating how and in what way the US dominates the discipline of IR. Instead of discussing general and vague forms of dominance, the study begins by dissecting the elements of US dominance and indicating the ways in which an actor can potentially dominate and how this can be measured. This study utilized TRIP questionnaires because they provide comprehensive and systematic international datasets that allow for a comparative and longitudinal examination of the intellectual, theoretical, and institutional structure of the discipline of International Relations. The findings show that the IR discipline still maintains its American-centeredness through existing structural inequalities.

Özet

Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininin ABD sosyal bilimi olduğu ile ilgili varsayımlar Stanley Hoffmann’ın iddiasından bugüne Uluslararası İlişkiler uzmanları arasında tartışılan bir konu olmuştur. Öyle ki, ABD merkezliliğine yönelik eleştirilerle başlayan bu tartışmalar, Uluslararası İlişkilerin daha kapsayıcı bir şekilde anlaşılması çağrılarını teşvik etmiş ve “çevre”nin disipline daha fazla dâhil edilmesi ve “Küresel Uİ” çağrısına dönüşmüştür. Bu yolda bu çalışmanın amacı da ABD’nin Uİ disiplinine nasıl ve ne şekilde hâkim olduğunu sistematik olarak araştırarak tartışmayı yeniden alevlendirmektir. Genel ve belirsiz bir hâkimiyet biçimlerinden bahsetmek yerine, çalışma ABD’nin Uİ’deki hâkimiyet unsurlarını parçalara ayırarak ve potansiyel olarak Uİ’de hâkimiyet kurabileceği yolları ve bunun nasıl ölçülebileceğini belirterek başlar. Çalışmanın yöntemi ilk olarak disiplinin ABD merkezli yapısını tarihsel, teorik ve kurumsal düzeylerde sorgulayan mevcut literatürden ve ikincil olarak TRIP anketlerinden elde edilen ikincil ampirik verilerine dayanmaktadır. Çalışma, Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininin entelektüel, kuramsal ve kurumsal yapısını karşılaştırmalı ve uzunlamasına biçimde incelemeye olanak tanıyan kapsamlı ve sistematik uluslararası veri setlerini sunması nedeniyle TRIP anketlerinden faydalanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular, Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininin mevcut yapısal eşitsizlikler çerçevesinde hâlâ ABD’nin akademik ve entelektüel hâkimiyeti altında sürekliliğini koruduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Kurnaz, İ. (2026). American Centricity in International Relations: Institutional Dominance, Publishing Concentration and the Structure of the Theoretical Field. Akdeniz İİBF Dergisi, Cilt: 26 Sayı: 1, 113–132. https://doi.org/10.25294/auiibfd.1747244

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