Dr Jayson Waters1, Prof. James Der Derian2
1Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 2 University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Jayson C. Waters is a Research Officer with the College of Asian & the Pacific at the Australian National University, and a lead researcher on the Quantum Meta-Ethics and Critical Quantum Technology projects at the University of Sydney. Waters earned his PhD from the University of Sydney in the emergent interdisciplinary sub-field of Quantum International Relations in 2022. He additionally holds a Master of International Relations from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of International Studies from Macquarie University. He is a passionate advocate for interdisciplinary approaches to the study of international relations, and for the expansion of the boundaries of the discipline more broadly.
Abstract:
Over the past two decades a small group of scholars on International Relations (IR) have turned towards quantum mechanics as a source of inspiration, analytical tools, and explanatory metaphors. These three approaches to quantum international relations (QIR) – mathematical, metaphorical, and metaphysical – are all promising avenues for future research. However, as we argue in this paper, they all represent incomplete revolutions for IR.
Drawing on Bohm, Einstein, Rovelli, Whitehead, Russell, Virilio, Smolin, and others, we argue for a holistic, quantum-informed revolution for IR that goes beyond the traditional bounds of IR, the social sciences, and quantum mechanics itself. We contend that the radical relationality and process-based ontology found in quantum mechanics – particularly as articulated in Smolin and Rovelli’s relational interpretation, Whitehead’s process philosophy, and Russell’s event ontology – demands we reconceptualise international relations not as a system of discrete state actors, but as an emergent phenomenon arising from overlapping networks of relationships and transformative events. This metaquantum-social ontology collapses traditional distinctions between observer and observed, agent and structure, becoming and being.
We propose a new theoretical framework that synthesises quantum indeterminacy, processual metaphysics, and critical IR theory to better capture the fundamental interconnectedness and dynamic nature of global political phenomena. This approach suggests novel methodological innovations combining quantitative and qualitative techniques while remaining sensitive to the inherent limitations of measurement and representation in both quantum and social systems.