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Social Emergence in International Relations pp 143–184Cite as

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Emergence and the Complexity of Social Practices: The Role of Discourse in Social Emergence

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Abstract

Wagner addresses emergence and the complexity of social practices by contemplating the role of discourse in social emergence. Advancing a realist understanding of discourse, Wagner defines discourse as a causal mechanism that, in connection with other non-discursive mechanisms, accounts for instances of social emergence. Drawing on approaches of critical discourse analysis, the chapter also offers a possible means to examine discourse as such mechanism and shows how it can be integrated into studying regional institutions and their emergence. The chapter closes with illustrating the finalized conceptualization of social emergence in the international system using the example of regional institutions.

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  1. GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany

    Maren Wagner

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Wagner, M. (2016). Emergence and the Complexity of Social Practices: The Role of Discourse in Social Emergence. In: Social Emergence in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33551-3_4

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