주류국제정치이론이 지닌 서구중심성에 대한 대안적 인식론 논의

This paper considers the possibility of moving away from West-centered perspectives in international political theory, construing West-centeredness in this theory on two levels: the tendency to maintain order and generalization of the Western experience.
The previous characteristics are found in mainstream theories, while the latter appears in the works of other first-generation English school theorists. However, in the former, far from overcoming West-centeredness, the absence of ontology and epistemological overconfidence has led to a lack of realization; in contrast, the latter has the potential for non-Western reconstruction due to its ontological foundation.
In this regard, it is a meaningful approach to reinterpret the English school theory: theoretical frameworks that are “expansion of international society” and “standards of civilization” that depart from the standard pattern of Western-centered views. However, the paper also focuses on the fundamental problem in these attempts, namely ontological concerns according to which we are not free from the Western intellectual tradition. As possibilities for overcoming this tradition, this paper examines the historical-sociological and methodological significance of the English school, departure of the state from international behaviors, attention to relations between civilizations, and comparativehistorical approaches.
Drawing on the perspective above, the contribution of the research is to consider the possibility of diverse perspectives that only centered on the Western characteristic based on the ontological reconstruction of the English school theory. By extension, the research also provides clues for the Korea’s international political theory by breaking away from the West-centered and order-maintaining theory.