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Gallagher, Julia (2016) 'Interviews as catastrophic encounters: loss and loneliness in IR research.' International Studies Perspectives, 17 (4). pp. 445-461.

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Abstract

The article uses psychoanalytic object relations theory to construct a way to understand why interviews in IR research – viewed here as encounters between strangers – can be felt as 'catastrophic'. The theory supports critical theoretical approaches that suggest that the world is structured through self-other relations, and argues that encounters with 'others' are unsettling because they can undermine the ways we constitute ourselves in relation to the wider world. Yet such challenges are inevitable if research is to challenge existing object constructions and the power relations that attend them. The article illustrates this argument with a detailed discussion of research interviews conducted in Zimbabwe.

Item Type: Journal Article
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
Subjects: J Political Science > JZ International relations
ISSN: 15283585
Copyright Statement: © 2015 International Studies Association. This is the accepted manuscript of an article published by Oxford University Press in International Studies Perspectives, available online: https://doi.org/10.1111/insp.12099
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1111/insp.12099
Date Deposited: 21 Jul 2018 12:58
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/26058
Related URLs: https://academi ... 7/4/445/2528284 (Publisher URL)

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