Quantum Political Science?: (Why) Should Political Science Take A Quantum Leap?

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

The ‘quantum turn’ in the social sciences questions the Newtonian physical assumptions of conventional social science, drawing attention to a whole new set of questions and problems. By mobilizing the concepts, models, and mathematics of quantum mechanics, quantum social scientists seek to understand a complex, entangled, and uncertain social world. There are a wide variety of approaches to the quantum question in social science, with some authors arguing that quantum physics provides useful metaphors, others arguing that quantum-coherent properties of atoms in human brains produce consciousness and sociality, and still others agnostically applying quantum formulae to game-theoretic systems or deploying quantum as a creative catalyst. While the experimental precision of quantum mechanics offers a clear defense of its use in physics, we remain far from a consensus on the value-added of a quantum leap in social science. Building off of books published by Alexander Wendt and Laura Zanotti, as well as a number of articles, journal forums, and conference panels at the International Studies Association annual and regional conventions, this roundtable brings together a wide variety of opinions and skepticism towards the idea of quantum political science, and asks the question underlying the pursuit of a “quantum leap”—should political science take a quantum turn? And if so, why?

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 42: New Political Science

Chair

• Michael P. A. Murphy University of Ottawa

Presenters

• Laura Zanotti Virginia Tech

• Alexander Wendt Ohio State University

• Christopher McIntosh Bard College

• Peter J. Katzenstein Cornell University

• Daniel Little University of Michigan, Dearborn

• Michael P. A. Murphy University of Ottawa