Assemblages and the Conduct of Inquiry

Abstract

In this conversation with the editors, Stephen Collier reflects on his engagement with assemblage thinking in his collaboration with Aihwa Ong on ‘global assemblages’ and in his work on vital systems security. Looking forward to the various contributions from the central part of the book, Collier discusses the use and misuse of assemblage thinking and comments on its potential IR applications. Providing a bridge between the theoretical reflexivity of the two previous conversations and the thematic chapters ahead, Collier raises questions of adjacency and entanglement with the ‘field’ by assemblage theorists.