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About this talk

The Research Centre in International Relations (RCIR) is delighted to invite you to the book talk by Dr Adam B Lerner, 'A Theory of Agency in International Politics' to be published by Oxford University Press. A Theory of Agency in International Politics offers a new social theory of agency in international politics. Instead of assuming who the persons of the international system are and which goals they pursue, Adam's theory explains how social relationships of recognition empower actors at multiple levels to reason through goals and procedures for achieving them. He defines international agency as the capacity to make meaningful choices with impacts across state borders. Drawing on recognition theory, critical realist philosophy of science, and feminist theories of relational autonomy and care ethics, he offers a framework for understanding agency as an emergent property of social systems. This framework explains what agency means in real-world politics, as well as where it comes from, how it operates, and how it informs attributions of moral responsibility. Moreover, he develops theoretical tools to flip from the detached perspective of structure to the first-person perspective of agency, revealing patterns of affordances and obstacles through which agents reason in decision-making. Adam's theory thus provides initial basis to—as in the film Being John Malkovich—begin travelling down the hallway into an agentive perspective on international politics. The book is an outcome of the Critical Actuarial Science Project supported by the British Academy. The Critical Actuarial Science Project is led by Dr Pauline Heinrichs and Adam B Lerner. The book will be discussed by Dr Pauline Heinrichs, Lecturer in War Studies (Climate and Energy) and the event is chaired by Elif Kalaycioglu, Lecturer in International Relations, both at the Department of War Studies. Please join us for this special event, followed by a Q&A and a drinks reception.

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