Agents, Structures and International Relations: Politics as Ontology

by Colin Wight

The agent-structure problem is a much discussed issue in the field of international relations. In his comprehensive 2006 analysis of this problem, Colin Wight deconstructs the accounts of structure and agency embedded within differing IR theories and, on the basis of this analysis, explores the implications of ontology - the metaphysical study of existence and reality. Wight argues that there are many gaps in IR theory that can only be understood by focusing on the ontological differences that construct the theoretical landscape. By integrating the treatment of the agent-structure problem in IR theory with that in social theory, Wight makes a positive contribution to the problem as an issue of concern to the wider human sciences. At the most fundamental level politics is concerned with competing visions of how the world is and how it should be, thus politics is ontology.

Genres: International Relations, Philosophy

360 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2006

Reviews

[Felipe Feitosa Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelentes debates que servem de revisão à história teórica das relações internacionais e, sem dúvidas, estudo ontológico e epistemológico, além de estruturação de focos em estudos que permanecem relevantes até hoje! Recomendo!

[Marc Chéhab · Rating 4 out of 5]

While in the field of IR this book should be considered a most scholarly book, the fact that it is pays tribute to the intellectual impotence of our field. This book is the pinnacle of the obsession of coming up with a master theory of the agent-structure relationship. Since Waltz, theory in IR is so alien and disconnected from the world, it's of no interest to anybody besides some nerds at university departments. Such is the state of our field that, if you wanted to study actual International Relations, you'd have to study journalism, conflict studies, or business...

[Erich Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un excelente libro. Wight discute el problema agente-estructura en la teoría social, así como sus repercusiones en el campo de las Relaciones Internacionales. Propone su propia solución al problema, basándose en el realismo científico de Roy Bhaskar. Esto lo lleva no solamente a repensar la agencia y la estructura social, sino que también lo dirige a clarificar qué hace la ciencia y qué distingue a la ontología, la epistemología y la metodología.

[Trashy Pit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the definitive analysis and explication of the agent-structure relationship (until I write one...)

[Barry McCulloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very important book that seeks to reconceptualise IR as a whole. Challenging yet timely.