International Relations Theory. Latin America. Global South. Epistemology. Ontology. Methodology.
What does Latin America contribute to the field of Theory of International Relations? The objective of this research is to map the institutional, conceptual, and intellectual structures within the subfield of theory in the discipline of International Relations. To achieve this, we characterize and compare the main articles published internationally with those published in Latin America over the past 30 years. Therefore, we constructed three unique databases from articles collected from Web of Science, Scopus, and SCImago. In total, approximately 1900 articles on the topic were analyzed using a combination of bibliometric techniques and thematic analysis. Among the main findings, we highlight the rise of Turkey and Brazil in global theoretical production, but the continued dominance of institutional, conceptual, and intellectual structures from the United States and the United Kingdom. Specifically for Latin America, there is a significant theoretical production; however, it still holds a secondary role globally within the subfield.