Systemism and International Studies

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "International Politics and Relations".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 2609

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Interests: international and national security

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Guest Editor Assistant
International Relations, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0044, USA
Interests: international relations; methods; Canadian politics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Systemism is an approach that emphasizes completeness and logical consistency in developing explanations within the social sciences. An essential element in that quest involves the use of graphics to accompany arguments that appear in a text. Systemist figures are created in line with criteria from educational psychology; low barriers to entry and a high degree of commensurability are just some of the major advantages associated with this approach. The contributions in this Special Issue show the value of the systemist diagrams in moving forward the analysis of a wide range of topics. Subject matter includes international organizations and conflict, migration, civil war, and women and terrorism.

Dr. Miruna Barnoschi
Guest Editor

Prof. Dr. Patrick James
Guest Editor Assistant

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Keywords

  • systemism
  • international organizations
  • international studies

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 745 KiB  
Article
Gender Dynamics of Terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin and Beyond: Systemist Representation and Connections
by Cecilia Idika-Kalu
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(3), 185; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030185 - 19 Mar 2025
Viewed by 222
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to present findings, relationships, and value added from research on the experiences of women with terrorism in North-East Nigeria to interdisciplinary spaces and practice by using systemist diagrammatic representations. This work is regarded as worthwhile in both [...] Read more.
The purpose of this article is to present findings, relationships, and value added from research on the experiences of women with terrorism in North-East Nigeria to interdisciplinary spaces and practice by using systemist diagrammatic representations. This work is regarded as worthwhile in both substantive and methodological terms for the following reasons: First, respective research projects with policy relevance will be presented in a visual format, highlighting their connectedness—easily digestible, but without losing the depth and breadth of the work. Second, the article provides a combination of diagrams with text (i.e., background methods and findings), making the contents accessible to different kinds of learners. Third, and finally, the visual approach creates clear interdisciplinary connections that provide a sound basis for further research, policy design, and practice without the loss of academic rigor. This article moves forward in seven sections. Section one provides an overview of the study. The second section introduces the systemist approach that will be implemented herein. Sections three through five use systemist graphics to analyze respective publications that focus on women and terrorism. Section six brings the preceding three studies into engagement with each other and addresses the greater significance of the work in the context of multiple disciplines. Seventh and last is the concluding section, which sums up the contributions of this article and offers some ideas for future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Systemism and International Studies)
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19 pages, 2783 KiB  
Article
The Politics of Migration in the 21st Century: Employing Systemism to Advance Research Strategies
by Jeannette Money
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(2), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14020098 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 844
Abstract
This article introduces systemism as a method of evaluating the expanding research agenda on the politics of migration. Systemism is a graphic method for presenting academic research concisely. It provides three methods of advancing the research agenda: elaboration, systematic synthesis, and bricolagic bridging. [...] Read more.
This article introduces systemism as a method of evaluating the expanding research agenda on the politics of migration. Systemism is a graphic method for presenting academic research concisely. It provides three methods of advancing the research agenda: elaboration, systematic synthesis, and bricolagic bridging. I employ two of these methods to follow the evolution of research on states’ migration policies from the 1990s to the 2020s, providing a critique of the research and suggesting methods for advancing our knowledge of this politically important policy issue. The article provides a short overview of systemism, and then illustrates its application through the presentation of two articles in graphic form: “No Vacancy. The Political Geography of Immigration Control in Advanced, Market Economy Countries” by Jeannette Money, and “The Migration State in the Global South: Nationalizing, Developmental, and Neoliberal Models of Migration Management”, authored by Fiona Adamson and Gerasimos Tsourapas. Elaboration is employed to expand the systemist presentation of “No Vacancy”, to communicate causal mechanisms more thoroughly. The next section employs systematic synthesis to bring together the two articles and to engage the research agenda on the politics of migration policy. The past 30 years have witnessed an expansion of the definition of migration management strategies captured by the four-fold typology proposed by Adamson and Tsourapas. However, continuing to pay attention to the domestic politics of migration management would help to illuminate variation among states within each category. Both articles acknowledge structural factors that constrain or provide opportunities for states’ migration policy choices, but neither develops a clear picture of the systemic factors that shape international mobility and the policy choices of states in the international system. The conclusions point to a continuing expansion of the research agenda along these three dimensions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Systemism and International Studies)
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14 pages, 3835 KiB  
Article
A Systemist Examination of Civil Wars and Their Actors
by Marie Olson Lounsbery
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(2), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14020059 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 671
Abstract
This article focuses intently on three pieces of civil war research and how they interact with each other to improve our understanding of the dynamic nature of warring actors. Patrick Regan’s book, entitled Sixteen Million One, delves into the conditions under which [...] Read more.
This article focuses intently on three pieces of civil war research and how they interact with each other to improve our understanding of the dynamic nature of warring actors. Patrick Regan’s book, entitled Sixteen Million One, delves into the conditions under which civil wars emerge by focusing intently on why individual actors take up arms to form a rebel faction. Research by Olson Lounsbery and Cook illuminates the challenge of these actors operating in a cohesive manner when they are faced with decisions to negotiate, while additional research by Olson Lounsbery presents the conditions under which previously splintered factions would once again unite. Each piece is presented through a systemist graphic approach. Doing so helps demonstrate how they interact with one another to improve our knowledge in the field of civil war studies. The article concludes with lessons learned through the application of systemism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Systemism and International Studies)
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13 pages, 3070 KiB  
Technical Note
Systemism and International Studies
by Miruna Barnoschi
Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(3), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030141 - 26 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 477
Abstract
This article introduces a Special Issue of Social Sciences on systemism and International Studies. With origins in the philosophy of science, systemism is having a rapidly expanding presence in academe. At the outset, systemism emphasized its status as a meta-method that could be [...] Read more.
This article introduces a Special Issue of Social Sciences on systemism and International Studies. With origins in the philosophy of science, systemism is having a rapidly expanding presence in academe. At the outset, systemism emphasized its status as a meta-method that could be used to assess the degree of completeness and logical consistency achieved by theorizing within respective disciplines of the social sciences. In International Relations, systemism has developed with an increasing emphasis on visualization, which played a modest role at the starting point in philosophy. The preceding shift in attention toward graphic conveyance is in line with tendencies toward a more visually oriented world along any number of dimensions. This introductory article unfolds in five stages. The first stage provides an overview. Stage two will introduce the systemist approach in a more specific way, with emphasis on the content and structure of its diagrams. The third section provides a detailed exposition, via a systemist figure and sub-figures, for a study of the evolving counterterrorism regime complex given its relevance to International Studies. Section four summarizes the other contributions to this Special Issue. The fifth and final section sums up what has been accomplished. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Systemism and International Studies)
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