ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that political narratives matter not only for the formation of intersubjective identities and social networks, but also for the processes and outcome of complex international negotiations. Narratives can play a crucial role in this key phase. Negotiation analysis tells us that before the bargaining actually begins, the pre-negotiation phase is critical for two purposes: “defining the problem and developing a commitment to negotiation”. Narratives play an important role in the building, preservation, and mobilization of coalitions, networks, and social movements. These groups, which coalesce around a common narrative that shapes their identity, are, in turn, essential to the dissemination of narratives. Narratives are a powerful force of political agency, and thereby also of bargaining and negotiation.
