Introduction: Theory as Ideology in International Relations Part I: Understanding Theory and Ideology 1. Theory vs. Ideology: Validity Criteria for Knowledge Claims and Normative Conditions of Critique 2. Ideology as Decontestation 3. Theory, Ideology and IR’s Quest for Scientific Credibility 4. ‘I see Something You Don't See’: Niklas Luhmann’s Social Theory between Observation and Meta-Critique Part II: Contemporary Theories as Ideologies 5. The Costs of the Democratic Turn in Political Theory 6. The Spirits We Cite: How Democratic War Theory Reproduces what it Opposes 7. From Theory to Practice: The Paradox of Neoliberal Hegemony in Twenty-First-Century World Politics 8. Liberalism and the Cold War: The International Thought of Jo Grimond Part III: Theorisation outside Academia 9. Ideologies of International Organisation: Exploring the Trading Zones between Theory and Practice 10. From Allegations of Ideology to Conflicts over Forms of Life: Or, Why Political Scientists Don’t Talk about Ecovillages 11. Microanalysis as Ideology Critique: The Critical Potential of ‘Zooming In’ on Everyday Social Practices Conclusion: From the Politics of Knowledge to Knowledge of Politics