Grid-Group Theory and the Study of International Relations

Abstract

This chapter will advocate the application of grid-group theory in the study of international relations on (meta-)theoretical grounds. The main argument will be that grid-group theory meets several conditions for proper theorizing that have been formulated by constructivist scholars, while also offering a way to avoid some problems that have plagued constructivist empirical analyses. First, the chapter will briefly describe the constructivist approach to international relations. Thereafter, grid-group theory itself will be set out and some of its conceptual limitations and strengths will be discussed. The chapter will then show how cultural theory not only meets the ontological and theoretical demands made by constructivists, but how it could also be helpful in overcoming various shortcomings of empirical research that has been based on constructivist assumptions. Last, several possible uses of grid-group analysis within (international) political theory will be listed.