Role Theory in International Relations - International Relations - Oxford Bibliographies

In the past two decades, role theory has gained importance as a cross-disciplinary approach for understanding agent, particularly state, behavior in global politics. With roots in psychology, social psychology, and sociology, scholars have identified common patterns of agents performing “roles” in social groupings. As analytical concepts, roles tie agential behavioral patterns to social structures, thereby bridging the theoretical divide between foreign policy analysis (FPA) and international relations theory (IRT). Despite considerable interest in the sociological roots of the concept, political scientists have not systematically imported insights from there, but rather used different terms, theoretical templates, and phrases in their role studies). This article provides a general overview of past and current developments in the theoretical and methodological conceptualization of the term as well as its application in FPA and IRT. For excellent general overviews see: Thies 2010, Breun

In the past two decades, role theory has gained importance as a cross-disciplinary approach for understanding agent, particularly state, behavior in global politics. With roots in psychology, social psychology, and sociology, scholars have identified common patterns of agents performing “roles” in social groupings. As analytical concepts, roles tie agential behavioral patterns to social structures, thereby bridging the theoretical divide between foreign policy analysis (FPA) and international relations theory (IRT). Despite considerable interest in the sociological roots of the concept, politi