Towards Guanxi? Reconciling the “Relational Turn” in Western and Chinese International Relations Scholarship

is the choice between substantialism and relationalism”.18 Inspired by his work, the seminal work of Jackson and Nexon is regarded as the beginning of the “relational turn” in Western IR, since it reveals the shortcomings of substantialism.19 The majority of IR theories are based on a positivist- based, state-centric substantialism. [...] The structure of international relations is in a dynamic state of continuous generation and development, and because of the diversity of the social world, the structure does not exist and develop in isolation but rather appears as a manifestation of multiple structures. [...] The Rise of Relational Theorizing in Sinophone IR Since the 1990s, the globalization of the academic study of international relations has generated a budding consciousness in China of the implications of Western theoretical innovation for Chinese IR scholarship. [...] The substantialist assumption of the inherent stability of the units and their separation from the interactive practice-based process excludes the possibility of changes in the components and composition of the international system. [...] Relationalism opens up space for the innovation of IR theory in the context of a world of intercultural inter- action, and promotes the development of a truly globalized IR.85 In short, to promote the in-depth development of the study of relational IR theory requires the joint efforts of Chinese and Western IR academia, with room for contributions from other non-Western scholars from the rest of t.