Narratives, Knowledge Objects, and the Making of Great Power Competition

Abstract

Abstract What makes great power relations more (or less) competitive? One key argument in International Relations (IR) is that interpretations matter and shape how competitive great power relations are. This article seeks to further develop this argument. Drawing on objectual IR and the sociology of expectations, it proposes a constructivist framework that unpacks two crucial, yet surprisingly little studied aspects of the making of great power competition: (i) the constitution and organization of great power relations as a contest over scarce goods and (ii) the interplay of narratives and knowledge objects that underpins it. To illustrate the framework and contribute to theory development, the article reconstructs the dynamics of two prominent dimensions of great power competition in the past decade: The tensions between NATO and Russia in Europe and the economic competition between the United States and China. It shows that the making of great power competition involves three interrelated elements: the framing of relations among powerful states as contests over some valued goods, the production of knowledge about the distribution of these goods, and governance arrangements stipulating rules for the contests. What underpins the three elements is an interplay of narratives and knowledge objects: General narratives of what the competition is about and what is at stake preconfigure which knowledge objects are regarded as pertinent. The pertinent knowledge objects, in turn, shape the specific narratives that are told about how the competition unfolds.