This thesis attempts to discover the hermeneutic orientation of the English School&rsquo / s approach to international relations. It is argued that the English School approach has a distinctive interpretivist character. The thesis concentrates on the works of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Wight. Martin Wight&rsquo / s anti-positivism, the historical character of his analysis of the traditions in international theory, and the centrality of language in his studies shows strong resemblance to Hans-Georg Gadamer&rsquo / s hermeneutics. The main purpose of this thesis is to show the relationship between the hermeneutics and the English School approach by discovering the common points between the thoughts of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Wight.

[pt] O objetivo da dissertação é avaliar a contribuição e o desenvolvimento da Escola Inglesa de Relações Internacionais. Para tanto, opta-se pela análise histórica, priorizando-se uma abordagem cronológica. Nesse sentido, analisa-se, inicialmente, a contribuição de dois de seus principais teóricos: Martin Wight e Hedley Bull, que estabeleceram os eixos teóricos e conceituais constitutivos da Escola. Na segunda parte, considera-se o debate sobre a identidade e a validade da contribuição da Escola nos anos 1980. Na última parte, apresenta-se uma avaliação da Escola Inglesa nos anos 1990. Introduz-se, então, a bifurcação entre uma vertente crítica e outra clássica e a inovação trazida por uma nova geração de teóricos. Por fim, procura- se apresentar, de forma crítica, o debate travado dentro da Escola sobre o conflito do Kosovo. / [en] The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the contribution and the development of the English School of International Relations. In order to achieve this, the analytical axis will be historic, emphasising a chronological approach. In this sense, it was accessed the contribution of two of its leading theorists: Martin Wight and Hedley Bull, that together established the mains theoretical and conceptual axis constitutive of the school. In the second part, the debate about the identity and the validity of the contribution of the school in the 1980s was analysed. In the last part, it is offered an evaluation of the English School in the 1990s. Its bifurcation into two approaches, a critical and a classical one; and the theoretical innovation brought by a new generation of theorists, will be introduced. Latter on, it will be offered an critical analysis of the debate that took place in the English School after the conflict at Kosovo.