ARTICLE
The International Relations as Construed by Ludwik Ehrlich
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Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Publication date: 2018-03-31
Stosunki Międzynarodowe – International Relations 2018;54(1):231-266
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ABSTRACT
The article aims to address the following questions: how did L. Ehrlich perceive
the study of international relations, and, if he embraced a specific theory of international relations in his investigative approach, which theory actually was it? In
line with the so-called contextual approach, developed within the framework of
the studies on the history of ideas, assuming that respective academic investigators
should effectively reflect in their research the times in which they actually live,
the two hypotheses were put forward, i.e. (1) Ehrlich construed the International
Relations as an interdisciplinary area of knowledge, and (2) followed the theories
being developed in his own time, i.e. liberal internationalism and classical realism.
The first part of the text focuses on Ehrlich’s biography in terms of how he actually
related himself to the above-referenced area of knowledge. Then his concept
of the International Relations is discussed. The Author adopted a case study
research strategy, as well as applied the qualitative analysis method in approaching
all textual material. The first part of the paper made use of available scientific
studies, while the Ehrlich’s monograph entitled Introduction to the International
Relations (1947) was mined for the second part. In the conclusions section the first
hypothesis was upheld, as Prof. Ehrlich’s reflections on the interdisciplinary
character of the International Relations are actually a part of the dominant perspective
embraced in the interwar period. At the same time, the second hypothesis failed
to be confirmed, as Ehrlich never in fact put forward a clear and coherent theory
of international relations. Instead of following the dominant theoretical positions
of his own time, his thought is found to incorporate the components of a diversity
of concepts, including not only the two theories typical of that time but also
the theory of international society. In view of the fact that some of those ideas
appear to be a decade and more ahead of the times when Ehrlich drafted his own
works, his entire research must be assessed in terms of the extent to which such
innovative thinking was actually espoused by him at the time.