Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T09:15:53.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - The agent–structure problem in IR theory: preliminary issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Colin Wight
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Get access

Summary

Part of the solution to any problem is the correct specification of that problem. Debate surrounding the agent–structure problem within IR theory has become confused because it is not always clear that the participants in discussion of the issue are talking about the same problem. Questions that are considered to be epistemological by one contributor are believed to be methodological by another. Ontological issues are regularly confused with matters of explanation and there is widespread confusion about just what the problem is. The aim of this chapter is to identify what lies at the heart of the agent–structure problem and disentangle this from the other issues that surfaced during the debate surrounding this issue within IR, but which are not an integral part of it. It is important to examine the nature of the agent–structure problem in order to ascertain whether the contributors to the debate are addressing the same problem. This clarification gains added significance if we are to remain clear about the distinctions, if any, between differing forms of problem – levels-of-analysis problem, agent–structure problem and macro–micro problem – and about what they entail. It is also necessary because it is the only way of evaluating the arguments for and against particular points of view: we can only understand why some theorists have advocated certain approaches and others objected to them, and judge whether their arguments are sound, if we know what the problem is and what it is they are advocating/objecting to.

Type
Chapter
Information
Agents, Structures and International Relations
Politics as Ontology
, pp. 90 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×