The agent-structure problem in international relations theory

In: International organization, Band 41, Heft Summer 87

Abstract

Neorealism and world-system theory both claim to be 'structural' theories of international relations, yet they embody very different understandings of system structure and structural explanation. These differences stem from fundamentally opposed solutions to the 'agent-structure' or 'micro-macro' problem. An alternative solution to the agent-structure problem, adapted from 'structuration theory' in sociology, can overcome these inadequacies. Discusses its approach. (Abstract amended)