Science, technology, and international relations: tales of power, hope, and norms and identities

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed the world, claimed millions of victims and demonstrated the high levels of interdependence of our hyper-globalized world. It also brought to the center of the debate the need to deepen our analyses of the ways in which science, technology and international relations are intertwined. This study proposes to use some theories of International Relations (IR) to reflect on these issues, and for approaching ‘multi-stakeholder governance’ as a mechanism to manage the dynamics generated by the scientific and technological changes of the contemporary world. To illustrate this proposal, three tales are constructed based on the ‘ideal types’ of three IR theories: a ‘tale of power’, based on realism, a ‘tale of hope’, based on liberalism, and a ‘tale of norms and identities’, based on constructivism. Each of these histories allows us to focus on specific international processes and actors, but more ‘tales’ will be needed to capture the complexity of the processes analyzed, and a closer collaboration between IR and Science and Technology Studies is required.