Agency, Structure and International Politics: From Ontology to Empirical Inquiry / Edition 1

by Gil Friedman, Harvey Starr

Overview

The concepts of agency and structure are of increasing and defining importance to international relations and politics as fields of enquiry and knowledge. This is the first book to explore the two concepts in depth in that context.
The agent-structure problem refers to questions concerning the interrelationship of agency and structure, and to the ways in which explanations of social phenomena integrate and account for them. This is an important contribution to the study of international relations and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415152594
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/20/1997
Series:	Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics , #2
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

Harvey Starr, Dag Hammarskjold Professor in International Affairs at the University of South Carolina, is a widely experienced and respected academic in the field. Gil Friedman is pursuing his Ph.D. in Political Science, also at the University of South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Part I 1 INTRODUCTION: AGENCY, STRUCTURE, AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EXPLANATION 2 THE ONTOLOGICAL AGENT-STRUCTURE PROBLEM 3 A CRITIQUE OF NEOREALISM AND ITS CRITICS 4 THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AGENT-STRUCTURE PROBLEM Part II 5 SOME THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF A METHODOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALIST APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 6 TOWARD A THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS VALUES 7 CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION OF VALUES UNDERLYING INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 8 CONCLUSION

Editorial Reviews

An ontological analysis of the agent-structure problem in international politics. Rather than limiting themselves to the strictly theoretical realm, the authors derive from the ontological considerations a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis of international relations. In the process they offer a critique of neorealism and its critics, some theoretical implications of a methodological individualist approach to international politics, and a discussion of change and transformation of values underlying international politics. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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