The Frontiers of Competitive Identity: A Role Theoretic Approach

This paper argues that role theory provides the conceptual apparatus necessary to account for the emergence of “competitive identity” in contemporary world politics. While constructivists and rationalists tend to pick opposing sides in debates over the symbolic vs. strategic importance of identity, role theory offers a via media to bridge these divides. Roles are one form of identity that states enact based on their own role conceptions and others’ expectations. Some role conceptions are seemingly sewn into the constitutive fabric of a state, while others may be more developed by state leaders in service of some more immediate strategic goal. Thus, while the role of “anti-imperialist agent” has been part of China’s larger role set since the 1960s, advocacy of the “responsible great power” role has been a recent innovation by the leadership in order to manage others’ expectations about China’s rise. Yet, significant others like the U.S. must recognize China’s new role. Thus, role theory provides for the possibility of relatively stable role sets that constitute state identity over time, as well as the ability of state leaders to strategically innovate new role conceptions. At the same time, states cannot innovate without constraint as new role conceptions must be recognized by significant others. We develop the conceptual repertoire of role theory for the analysis of competitive state identity in the paper. We argue that role theory’s model of the role location process offers a via media between constructivist and rationalist approaches to identity. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of this approach through an analysis of Argentinean state identity in the 1990s, as Argentina experienced many strategic changes in its relational identity vis-à-vis its neighbors Brazil and Chile, and vis-à-vis the US.