Status Politics and the Identity Formation of Emerging Powers: Interactions with International Institutions

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_100How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Status Politics; Emerging Powers; Identity Formation; International Institutions; Social Identity Theory

Abstract

The existing gap between the material power of emerging powers and the institutional recognition of the same has been the core issue in international relations. Realism, liberal institutionalism, and constructivism have all been found to have some shortcomings in explaining the motivations of emerging powers for seeking symbolic recognition instead of material benefits, and the role of the same in shaping the new identities of the emerging powers. To address the theoretical gap in the existing theories, the current research attempts to create a new analytical framework by combining the status politics theory and the Social Identity Theory, thereby creating a new framework of ‘recognition gap-strategy selection-identity formation.’ The new framework suggests that there are three strategies for the emerging powers: institutional integration, innovation, and contestation, depending on the recognition gap and the institutional openness. The implementation of the strategies creates a new feedback effect that either consolidates or undermines the new identities of the emerging powers. The current research attempts to prove its contribution by exploring the role of the differential responses of international institutions towards China and India in shaping the new identities of the same.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yujie Tao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - Status Politics and the Identity Formation of Emerging Powers: Interactions with International Institutions
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 986
EP  - 997
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_100
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_100
ID  - Tao2026
ER  -