Audrey Alejandro

Thank you for the invitation. It was great!

Pic of villa engler

Very nice location for our 4th DiMES workshop today with @audreyalejandro.bsky.social. Thanks to @jojukao.bsky.social for organizing and @dennmis.bsky.social for setting us up in Villa Engler @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social

www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en/soziologi...

European Journal of International Relations - Volume 31, Number 2 Table of contents for European Journal of International Relations, 31, 2

Summer is there with a new issue of the European Journal of International Relations- Vol. 31, issue 2!

🧵In this thread you can find all the articles included:

📚Read the full issue here: t1p.de/0grt2

🧵4/10

“Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision” by @audreyalejandro.bsky.social

t1p.de/7u0eo

Abstract to the article "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision" : How does social actors’ engagement with the technical dimensions of world politics—from material infrastructures to modeling, engineering, bureaucracy, and discourses of expertise—bring about specific social configurations and political effects? To answer this research problem, International Relations scholars have growingly mobilized the idea of technicization to investigate the relationship between knowledge, governance, socio-political reproduction, and social change. However, despite this interest, technicization has been neither conceptualized nor theorized. I argue that this absence limits our understanding of how technicality affects world politics and leads to the literature taking depoliticization as the default interpretation. To address this issue, this article develops three conceptualizations of technicization by distinguishing between the theoretical traditions underpinning this idea across social sciences. I introduce to International Relations the concept of technicization as desociologization based on the Habermassian concepts of technique and practice, which I distinguish from technicization as depoliticization (Weberian) and technicization as disciplinarization (Foucauldian) most commonly encountered in the literature. I illustrate the utility of disentangling these approaches through the case study of the history of the medicalization of male circumcision and its use as a global health anti-HIV policy since 2007. Overall, this article lays solid theoretical foundations for a more structured conversation about knowledge- and discourse-related processes dealing with the technical dimensions of world politics and beyond.

🔥 New article "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision" published with @ejir.bsky.social in #openaccess: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

@lsemethodology.bsky.social

#Technique #malecircumcision #expertise #Weber #Foucault #Habermas #VMMC

❤️❤️❤️Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!! 🤓

Table synthesising the three conceptualisation of technicization introduced in the article

I develop three conceptualisation of technicization:
1. Technicization as depoliticization (Weberian)
2. Technicization as disciplinarization (Foucauldian)
3. Technicization as desociologization (Habermassian)

It is my first paper that is really a #socialtheory / #politicaltheory paper 😍🤓

Conclusion Throughout its history, male circumcision has remained a social practice embedded in and productive of social norms, for example relating to the management of sexuality. During the first stage of its medicalization, male circumcision was explicitly associated with such social/moral roles. It is during the remedicalization of male circumcision that it became technicized (in the Habermassian sense)—presented as a socially neutral procedure while continuing to perform some of its pre-medicalized social roles and acquiring new ones. On the one hand, the medicalization of male circumcision does not fit a case of technicization as depoliticization. Male circumcision has traditionally been the remit of initiatory and religious authorities before becoming the remit of medical experts, without being the object of public debate. On the other hand, the medicalization of male circumcision does not fit a case of technicization as disciplinarization either. Medicalized male circumcision has been used as a tool of social organization long before the emergence of modern states and their techniques of power—i.e. its non-technicized roles produce social order while pre-existing the emergence of modern forms of governmentality. Moreover, the relation between technicization and knowledge in this case does not follow the Foucauldian model. Rather than regulating behaviors by making an object of governance visible through knowledge, the practice is promoted while knowledge about it is either missing or non-consensual.

I illustrate the interest of theorising and disentangling these conceptualisation of #technicisation based on the case study of the history of the medicalisation of male circumcision.

Yes, have you published on discourse?

graphic that reads 'we're hiring: LSE Fellow in Qualitative Methods. Applications close: 27 April 2025. For more information and to apply, please visit www.jobs.lse.ac.uk'

We're also hiring an LSE Fellow in Qualitative Methods👏

We are seeking to appoint an individual with established research interests and teaching experience in qualitative methods 🌎

For more info and to apply➡️ jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Methods are generally considered a key dimension of social science research and of the craft of producing knowledge in academic settings. Methods can be understood as sets of techniques and practices that offer overall guidance, structure and coherence regarding how we produce knowledge. They invite us to disclose the underpinnings behind the research choices we make and be explicit about the steps, tasks and procedures through which we conduct research. This entry first defines what falls under the scope of ‘methods’. It then traces the development of methods in International Relations (IR). The third section provides an overview of current debates around the question of methods in IR. The conclusion sketches out the potential implications of and directions for the future of methods in IR.

Based on the history of methods & methodological debates in IR, I argue that the current promotion of methods in IR challenges the ‘critical vs non-critical’ divide & argue that pro-methods critical scholarship is currently engaged in a process of de-technicisation of methods.

Just to reiterate, these are really good post-docs: Relatively low teaching load (and the teaching is usually interesting and helpful from a career-perspective), friendly and supportive community, and a focus on helping you produce research and launch a career.

Many very successful alumni!

📣 Beate Jahn & Sebastian Schindler's new Encyclopedia of #InternationalRelations is OUT!

Very proud to have contributed to the entry "#Methods" that I wrote as an introduction to methods for IR students. DM if you want the manuscript.
www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Data Science Institute Discover the LSE Data Science Institute that leads and forms the institutional cornerstone of activity in data science at the London School of Economics

Happy to have become an affiliate of LSE Data Science Institute & pursue there my interest in building the bridge between Computational Social Science and Qualitative Research 🎉 Have a 👀 at this wonderful team of scholars: www.lse.ac.uk/DSI
@lsedatascience.bsky.social @lsemethodology.bsky.social

Data Science Institute Discover the LSE Data Science Institute that leads and forms the institutional cornerstone of activity in data science at the London School of Economics

Happy to have become an affiliate of LSE Data Science Institute & pursue there my interest in building the bridge between Computational Social Science and Qualitative Research 🎉 Have a 👀 at this wonderful team of scholars: www.lse.ac.uk/DSI
@lsedatascience.bsky.social @lsemethodology.bsky.social

Methods are generally considered a key dimension of social science research and of the craft of producing knowledge in academic settings. Methods can be understood as sets of techniques and practices that offer overall guidance, structure and coherence regarding how we produce knowledge. They invite us to disclose the underpinnings behind the research choices we make and be explicit about the steps, tasks and procedures through which we conduct research. This entry first defines what falls under the scope of ‘methods’. It then traces the development of methods in International Relations (IR). The third section provides an overview of current debates around the question of methods in IR. The conclusion sketches out the potential implications of and directions for the future of methods in IR.

Based on the history of methods & methodological debates in IR, I argue that the current promotion of methods in IR challenges the ‘critical vs non-critical’ divide & argue that pro-methods critical scholarship is currently engaged in a process of de-technicisation of methods.

📣 Beate Jahn & Sebastian Schindler's new Encyclopedia of #InternationalRelations is OUT!

Very proud to have contributed to the entry "#Methods" that I wrote as an introduction to methods for IR students. DM if you want the manuscript.
www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Censorship & Antidemocratic Governance at the ISA The International Studies Association (ISA) claims to be “an organization that is governed by and answerable to its membership.” However…

Censorship and anti-democratic governance at the International Studies Association medium.com/@bdsatisa/ce...

AI generated photograph featuring a group of people sat around a table and code overlayed

📣Call for papers!

1️⃣ week left to send your 250-word abstract for @audreyalejandro.bsky.social and ‪@dandekadt.bsky.social‬'s two-day workshop on "Computational Social Science meets Qualitative Research"

Learn more➡️ www.lse.ac.uk/Methodology/...

@lsedatascience.bsky.social

Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision

💡 New article

@audreyalejandro.bsky.social‬ latest article focuses on "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision"

Read more here ➡️

Call for papers Call for papers, Computational Social Science meets Qualitative Research. Two-day workshop for 10 November 2025 at LSE.

Thanks for letting me know: here is a valid link! www.lse.ac.uk/Methodology/...

There's still time to nominate!🌠

Really looking forward to host this event. Please do not hesitate to reach out in DM if you have an idea that you would like to brainstorm with us!

@dandekadt.bsky.social @lsemethodology.bsky.social

#methodology #CSS #AI #machinelearning #mixedmethods #qualitativeresearch #researchmethods #LSE

Acknowledgments This article benefited from the constructive feedback of many. I would like to thank Pinar Bilgin, Chris Deacon, Alejandro Esguerra, Matthias Kranke, Katja Freistein, Andrea Liese, Laura Pantzerhielm, Alex Stoffel, the participants of the 2021 ECPR panel “Knowledge and International Organizations,” of the 2022 workshop “Objects of Expertise,” of the research colloquium of the Center for global cooperation (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Science Studies (University of Bielefeld), as well as the EJIR reviewers for their useful feedback on previous versions of the article. I would also like to thank the center for global cooperation (University of Duisburg-Essen) for hosting me as a Senior Visiting Fellow in the latest stages of writing this manuscript.

This is the first article for which the feedback I've received pre&post submission has always been constructive, professional and very high level. Thank you to @ejir.bsky.social reviewers & editors, @pbilgin.bsky.social @mattkranke.bsky.social @ksailormoon.bsky.social @andrealiese.bsky.social ...👏💫

Conclusion Throughout its history, male circumcision has remained a social practice embedded in and productive of social norms, for example relating to the management of sexuality. During the first stage of its medicalization, male circumcision was explicitly associated with such social/moral roles. It is during the remedicalization of male circumcision that it became technicized (in the Habermassian sense)—presented as a socially neutral procedure while continuing to perform some of its pre-medicalized social roles and acquiring new ones. On the one hand, the medicalization of male circumcision does not fit a case of technicization as depoliticization. Male circumcision has traditionally been the remit of initiatory and religious authorities before becoming the remit of medical experts, without being the object of public debate. On the other hand, the medicalization of male circumcision does not fit a case of technicization as disciplinarization either. Medicalized male circumcision has been used as a tool of social organization long before the emergence of modern states and their techniques of power—i.e. its non-technicized roles produce social order while pre-existing the emergence of modern forms of governmentality. Moreover, the relation between technicization and knowledge in this case does not follow the Foucauldian model. Rather than regulating behaviors by making an object of governance visible through knowledge, the practice is promoted while knowledge about it is either missing or non-consensual.

I illustrate the interest of theorising and disentangling these conceptualisation of #technicisation based on the case study of the history of the medicalisation of male circumcision.

Table synthesising the three conceptualisation of technicization introduced in the article

I develop three conceptualisation of technicization:
1. Technicization as depoliticization (Weberian)
2. Technicization as disciplinarization (Foucauldian)
3. Technicization as desociologization (Habermassian)

It is my first paper that is really a #socialtheory / #politicaltheory paper 😍🤓

How does social actors’ engagement with the technical dimensions of world politics—from material infrastructures to modeling, engineering, bureaucracy, and discourses of expertise—bring about specific social configurations & political effects? ➡️ Problem: technicisation has not been theorised.

Abstract to the article "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision" : How does social actors’ engagement with the technical dimensions of world politics—from material infrastructures to modeling, engineering, bureaucracy, and discourses of expertise—bring about specific social configurations and political effects? To answer this research problem, International Relations scholars have growingly mobilized the idea of technicization to investigate the relationship between knowledge, governance, socio-political reproduction, and social change. However, despite this interest, technicization has been neither conceptualized nor theorized. I argue that this absence limits our understanding of how technicality affects world politics and leads to the literature taking depoliticization as the default interpretation. To address this issue, this article develops three conceptualizations of technicization by distinguishing between the theoretical traditions underpinning this idea across social sciences. I introduce to International Relations the concept of technicization as desociologization based on the Habermassian concepts of technique and practice, which I distinguish from technicization as depoliticization (Weberian) and technicization as disciplinarization (Foucauldian) most commonly encountered in the literature. I illustrate the utility of disentangling these approaches through the case study of the history of the medicalization of male circumcision and its use as a global health anti-HIV policy since 2007. Overall, this article lays solid theoretical foundations for a more structured conversation about knowledge- and discourse-related processes dealing with the technical dimensions of world politics and beyond.

🔥 New article "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision" published with @ejir.bsky.social in #openaccess: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

@lsemethodology.bsky.social

#Technique #malecircumcision #expertise #Weber #Foucault #Habermas #VMMC

Today a senior exec from Taylor & Francis replied confirming that T&F journal articles *are* and will continue to be provided to its AI partners for model training, with *no opt-out*. Guess we know where we stand now - academics are creators of data for value generation by Big AI and publishers

AI generated photograph featuring a group of people sat around a table and code overlayed

📣Call for papers!

👉 Remember, @audreyalejandro.bsky.social and @dandekadt.bsky.social‬ are hosting a two-day workshop on "Computational Social Science meets Qualitative Research" this November.

Learn more and submit your paper before 26 March➡️ buff.ly/40U9SA0...

@lsedatascience.bsky.social