Abstract: Status in International Relations (IR) is understood as a hierarchical position acquired through traits and roles, that relatively position a state against others and provides legitimacy and respect. Said traits and roles may have materialistic or subjective basis but they produce perceptions and interpretations of actors (acting Nation States) that aid in the progression of its status. The talk highlights two major drawbacks in the current understanding of status in IR. First, that status judged by audience (interpreting Nation States) is not perceived in the same manner by all audience members and has varied interpretations and outcomes. Secondly, status is not a mere moral compass that positions actors based on how friendly and noble they perform towards their audience, but positions actors also on the basis of power to influence, thus missing out on coercive and aggressive actions role in altering status. The talk will therefore highlight that existing literature on ‘Status’, based on attributes and performance of normative roles, does not account for regional and social variations in status building. The presenter introduces an expectations-based theory of status building through an analysis of existing literature in IR and Sociology. The theory emphasizes that status is gained by meeting and challenging expectations set by the audience. The discussion will also introduce the concept of negative and positive expectations performance, where status is built through norm breaking, norm entrepreneur-ing and norm contestations. Thus, by allowing inclusion of sociological expectation theory into IR, the article accounts for diverse audience interpretations and integrates the of concepts such as coercion, aggression and conflict into the theory of international status.
About the speaker: Virain Mohan is a PhD Scholar at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru. He is associated with the School of Conflict and Security Studies and works in the area of China and South-East Asia relations, maritime diplomacy and status. He has completed internships at Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.