Ronnie Olesker, associate professor of government, published an article in The British Journal of Politics and International Relations on the interplay between identities, norms and power transition in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
In her article, titled “Chaos is a Ladder: A study of identity, norms, and power transition in the Game of Thrones universe,” argues that identity and normative commitments matter for both inter- and intra-alliance success. Most importantly, the survival of characters whose normative commitments are mismatched with their alliance is not guaranteed through the alliance. In other words, the normative commitments of actors within each alliance have an impact on their survival. Therefore, the show serves as an effective knowledge production site for exploring the consequences of power transition and alliance theory.
The article was a product of a summer fellowship research Olesker conducted with Zach Lang ’19 in summer 2018 and that she and Lang presented a preliminary version at the British International Studies Association in London in June 2019. The article, is a revised version of that work, which focuses on understanding power transition and alliance formation dynamics through the study of Game of Thrones.
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