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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 14h

Launching our Autumn Term Seminar Series Schedule 🍂✅️ Find out more👉 www.lse.ac.uk/methodology/... And sign up to our mailing list to secure tickets first 👉 lse.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

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Paul Poast @profpaulpoast.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This new paper by @audreyalejandro.bsky.social puts forward an argument that we'll take seriously at the COW war data project. This is especially relevant we thinking about recoding the Non-State and Extra-state war data.

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

How state-centric is conflict studies? In this new article in International Studies Perspectives 🎉, I systematically examine how 12 major conflict event datasets embed state-centrism through their inclusion criteria, classifications, and documentation. academic.oup.com/isp/advance-...

Screen shot of title and abstract for "Words of Violence and War Categories: A Systematic Assessment of State-Centrism in Conflict Research Datasets"

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Read the latest from Dr @audreyalejandro.bsky.social ⤵️

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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Florian G. Kern @floriangkern.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

If you’re at @epssnet.bsky.social go check out @chrisguarnold.bsky.social presenting our work on computational vs AI-based secondary analysis of archived qualitative data! Thanks for organising the panel, @kenbenoit.bsky.social and @audreyalejandro.bsky.social. Would have loved to be there!

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Dr @audreyalejandro.bsky.social took a trip to Tallinn this week, to share her expertise on Discourse Analysis ⤵️

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Very happy to visit Tallinn University this week where I teach #DiscourseAnalysis as part of the Estonian Doctoral Course. Thank you @birgitpoopuu.bsky.social for the invitation and looking forward to interacting more with Estonian PhD students tomorrow already ☺️ @lsemethodology.bsky.social

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I had the pleasure of presenting my research at @eui-eu.bsky.social on technicization and the governance of male circumcision in global health policy, as part of a @civica.bsky.social initiative. The paper is available open access: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @lsemethodology.bsky.social

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

🎓️ We're hiring an LSE Fellow in Qualitative Methods We are seeking to appoint an individual with established research interests and teaching experience in qualitative methods🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Applications close👉️ jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

graphic that reads 'we're hiring: LSE Fellow in Qualitative Methods'

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

New publication: Studying Knowledge: An Analytical Guide for International Politics. This chapter offers a practical toolkit for more rigorous research: clarify core concepts, structure your research design across 6 dimensions, and avoid common pitfalls. DM for access. @lsemethodology.bsky.social

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

New preprint ✨ Computational Discourse Analysis is taking off—but how it bridges discourse analysis & NLP/QTA is often confusing. Here, I clarify what it is (and isn’t) & outline two main approaches to make it more rigorous and accessible. Would love thoughts & feedback! osf.io/preprints/so...

Abstract for the preprint "Computational Discourse Analysis: A Methodological Framework": "Computational Discourse Analysis is an emerging methodological approach that bridges discourse analysis with quantitative text analysis and natural language processing. While computational discourse analysis is gaining traction across a growing number of case studies, this momentum has not yet been matched by the development of dedicated methodological resources. This article addresses this gap by developing a methodological framework that makes sense of the diverse and scattered works falling under the scope of computational discourse analysis to legitimise this innovative approach and make it accessible to a broad audience. I begin by tracing the methodological traditions that underpin computational discourse analysis: discourse analysis and quantitative text analysis/ natural language processing. I then identify two primary modes through which it is currently practised: “mixed-method” computational discourse analysis and “text-as-discourse” computational discourse analysis. Building on this foundation, I address terminological and practical confusions and clarify what computational discourse analysis is and is not. Finally, I outline the core rationale and key benefits of adopting a computational discourse analysis approach: enhanced rigour, greater efficiency, and increased analytical value. In doing so, the article provides conceptual grounding for a broader methodological conversation at the intersection of qualitative and computational text analysis."

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nicoblar.bsky.social @nicoblar.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Happy to announce the 1st ever @isanet.bsky.social conference in South Asia in August 2026. Hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we welcome proposals from scholars based in and/or studying South Asian politics & international relations, but also broader global themes ofc www.isanet.org/Conferences/...

eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

ISA-SAWP Colombo 2026: Call for Proposals

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Nature Reviews Methods Primers @natrevmethodsprimers.nature.com · 13/01/2026

Day3️⃣ of the NRMP 5th Anniversary Highlights🧁 From @audreyalejandro.bsky.social at @lsemethodology.bsky.social comes a topic that everyone can reflect on, #reflexivity. Learn more about your bias and applying these realizations to your research 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s43...

nature.com

Client Challenge

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Flora Cornish @floracornish.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Crucial resource here from the world expert on reflexivity in social science research

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

🔭 What’s the future of reflexivity & how do we put it into practice? New article in @natrevmethodsprimers.nature.com I argue for three priorities 1) evaluation criteria 2) studying reflexivity as a socio-cognitive phenomenon 3) adapting it across research traditions OA: rdcu.be/eX79L

Title: The future of reflexivity in practice: building a collective methodological agenda by Audrey Alejandro -Reflexivity is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of high-quality research, yet methodological guidance on how to do reflexivity in practice remains limited. Drawing on emerging initiatives to operationalize reflexivity, three priorities for advancing a collective agenda are identified — turning reflexivity into a teachable, actionable set of methods.

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Interested in how climate discourses shape social life and politics? Happy to present my new project about climatisation with @bchemouni.bsky.social this week at @uclouvain.bsky.social 🤓 @lsemethodology.bsky.social @granthamlse.bsky.social

Advertising picture of the ISPOLE seminar with the title of the presentation "Speaking Climate into the World: Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Climatization" with the picture of Audrey Alejandro and Benjamin Chemouni. The seminar takes place 10-12-2025 12h45-14h sandwiches at 12h15 LECL B290

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

"Are we measuring the right things in the social sciences?" At an LSE Open Research Panel this week @audreyalejandro.bsky.social said "so many of the tools we rely on to assess research quality are really just proxies, yet our methodological standards drop when we evaluate our own profession"

People sit at the front of a classroom in a panel format. Photo credit: Matteo Maria Galizzi

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

The workshop "Computational Social Sciences meets Qualitative Research" at #LSE last week was exceptional 🤩Now preparing the Special Issue that is going to be 🔥 so watch this space. Thank you to all the participants and chairs for your great insights and the amazing vibe.

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

📭 Just published: The Case for Asking “What Is This a Case Of?” My students pushed me to write this — maybe yours will find it useful too. Curious what you think! #caseselection #methodology #researchdesign #researchmethods www.audreyalejandro.com/the-methodol... @lsemethodology.bsky.social

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Day Two of our Computational Social Science Meets Qualitative Research workshop has begun and we’re in the iconic Shaw Library 📚⚡️ @lsedatascience.bsky.social

A doorway with a poster and people stood inside a room

People sat around a table in a grand room

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

It’s Day One of our Computational Social Science Meets Qualitative Research workshop ✍️ We kicked things off with the first paper from @audreyalejandro.bsky.social @dandekadt.bsky.social 💡

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

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Marko Bachl @bachl.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

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...

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EJIR @ejir.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

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

t1p.de

European Journal of International Relations - Volume 31, Number 2

Table of contents for European Journal of International Relations, 31, 2

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EJIR @ejir.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

🧵4/10 “Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision” by @audreyalejandro.bsky.social t1p.de/7u0eo

t1p.de

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

🔥 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

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.

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

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 😍🤓

Table synthesising the three conceptualisation of technicization introduced in the article

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

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.

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.

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

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/...

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'

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

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.

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.

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Daniel de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

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!

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

📣 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...

elgaronline.com

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

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

lse.ac.uk

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

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

lse.ac.uk

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

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

elgaronline.com

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

📣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

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

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

💡 New article @audreyalejandro.bsky.social‬ latest article focuses on "Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision" Read more here ➡️

journals.sagepub.com

Conceptualizing technicization: the history of the medicalization of male circumcision

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

There's still time to nominate!🌠

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

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

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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 09/09/2024

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

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LSE Methodology @lsemethodology.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

📣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

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

4. A conceptual and pedagogical piece (by me): "Writing as Social Practice: From Researchers’ to Readers’ Reflexivity" in which I conceptualise the key concepts of our initiative and unpack how to write for reflexivity and decenter agency in world politics. In #OpenAccess ➡️ brill.com/view/journal...

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Audrey Alejandro @audreyalejandro.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

I define key concepts to writing for reflexivity & introduce practical strategies based on the case of decentering agency in world politics to address the Eurocentric denial of "non-Western" agency existing in #IR. Below: an excerpt of an activity I develop for decentering agency in our writings 2/

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