social constructivism international relations

This reimagining is not new. Sookermany, A. M. (2021). International Politics, 53(2), 176197. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. forthcoming). Wendt, A. What agents want and who they are may be constituted by social structures, but there is never a complete sublimation of agents they retain an ability to reason about constitutive social structures and make relatively independent behavioral choices. These works argue that norms do not provide fully specified rules for every situation, and especially not for novel situations. for example, is that ideas and norms are hard to test empirically (Moravcsik 1999); they are intangible things that are difficult to measure or quantify, and it is hard to know if they played a significant role in affecting behavior (Farrell 2002, p. 60). Another topic that requires further consideration in future research is the relationship between intersubjective and subjective reality. Sandholtz (2008) himself proposes a cyclical model to explain the evolution of norms prohibiting wartime plunder. Constructivism relies in part on the theory of the social construction of reality, which says that whatever reality is perceived to be, for the . In this sense, constructivism is really at its core a social theory of international relations because the focus on identity and interactions show how clashes and cooperation manifest in the global arena. Initial constructivist norm studies thus tended to focus on how behavior in a community coalesces around a norm or is reconstituted when a norm emerges. Constructivist thought makes it clear that social norms do not exist independently of communities of actors that believe in and enact them. Constructivism is relevant to military studies in numerous ways. Cooperation and Conflict, 51(2), 184199. Holding social norms relatively constant in order to do this was deemed an acceptable trade-off. It was a tool for constructivists to show that ideas, norms, and morals mattered vis--vis rationalist variables in explanations of world political phenomena. Actors can see and interpret the world and approach it differently therefore, anarchy is what states make of it. For Wendt, different cultures of anarchy were possible, which meant that the neorealist idea of a self-help system was limited to just a Hobbesian version that depended on military power for security. Steele, B. On the contrary, early, empirically oriented constructivists worked to demonstrate that shared ideas about appropriate state behavior had a profound impact on the nature and functioning of world politics. Perhaps this is simply a matter of what questions are being asked. Initial constructivist studies of social norms can be divided into three areas: normative, socialization, and normative emergence. Beginning with the assumption that actors reason about social norms means considering norms to be (at least somewhat) external to actors, part of their social context, but at least potentially manipulable by actors. It matters if one assumes that norms are manipulable by political actors who can reason about them from an external standpoint or if norms (and social structure more generally) more fundamentally constitute actors such that they cannot stand outside the social norms that shape their interests and behaviors. Grand strategy, strategic culture, practice: The social roots of Nordic defence. Rasmussen, M. V. (2005). Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Tannenwald, N. (2017). Constructivism and the nature of international relations Constructivism efforts to give a better understanding of international relations by its method which is based on social theory. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. 1516). Epistemic communities are described by Peter Haas as networks of knowledge-based communities with an authoritative claim to policy-relevant knowledge within their domain of expertise. They share intersubjective knowledge and beliefs and a common policy enterprise, tackling specific problems in relation to their professions (2016, p. 5) to push for norm change around nuclear proliferation and to reduce the arsenal of the superpowers. Constructivism can explain how identity shapes interaction in the international realm for instance the assumption that when states regard each other as liberal democracies they are less likely to go to war with each other. ), Epistemic communities, constructivism, and international environmental politics (pp. Social norms were conceived as aspects of social structure that emerged from the actions and beliefs of actors in specific communities and in turn norms shaped those actions and beliefs by constituting actors identities and interests. (2019). Some preexisting knowledge of speech act theory, constructivism, and securitization theory is useful before reading this chapter . Some scholars have sought a way through or out of the logic of appropriateness/logic of consequences debate by following March and Olsens (1998) suggestions about scrutinizing the relationship between the logics, especially possible temporal sequencing of the logics, theorizing that sometimes actors calculate optimal material courses and at others they reason about their normative/identity obligations (Shannon 2000; Nielson, Tierney, and Weaver 2006; see Muller 2004 for a caution on this synthesis strategy). Constructing IR: The third generation. Early empirical studies of social norms tended to consider social norms as static and relatively specific social facts. This is natural given that this work is still in the area of socialization. This study focuses on the definition of the social constructivism approach within the scope of International Relations (IR) theories and the discussions on this approach. Scholars working in this vein often begin by critiquing the analytic move to freeze the content of norms. People who share an identification are then assumed to share unique traits and attributes. Adler, E. (1997). I would like to thank Alice Ba, Robert Denemark, Phil Triadafilopoulos, and the anonymous reviewer for their helpful discussions and suggestions on this essay. Central to constructivism are concepts such as norms, institutions, and culture. The first wave of empirical constructivist studies tended to freeze norms. This is particularly relevant to military studies in terms of understanding the strategic culture of specific states: culture can have an important influence on how states see security, how they interpret threat and train and organize their military forces. Seizing the middle ground: Constructivism in world politics. Considering other factors to explain why states behave the way they do. There is considerable confusion in the field on what precisely constitutes social constructivism and what distinguishes it from other approaches to international relations.1 As a result, it has become fairly common to introduce constructivism as yet another substantive theory of international rela- Risse (2000:6) captured the essence of the internal critique when he noted that the logic of appropriateness actually encompasses two different modes of social action and interaction. In one mode, appropriate actions are internalized and become thoughtlessly enacted at times as a precursor to or foundation of strategic behavior (Risse 2000:6) actors reasoning through social norms. International Relations is in Social Studies, thus this study field tries to theorize a model that could explain everything that is going on between countries. Critical constructivists pay greater attention to issues of power and dominant discourses that construct national identity.. These criticisms are predominantly about where constructivism claims to fit in IR (as the middle ground between rationalist and reflectivist approaches) and its methodological commitments. Two have become particularly prominent compliance with the strictures of social norms and change in norms themselves. Giddens (1984:22) argued that social rules do not specify all the situations which an actor might meet with, nor could [they] do so; rather, [they] provide for the generalized capacity to respond to and influence an indeterminate range of social circumstances. Until recently this insight was often bracketed and it was assumed that norm acceptors follow the norms that structure their community relatively unproblematically. [3] Security institutions as agents of socialization? Social norms were conceptualized as aspects of social structure that emerged from the actions and beliefs of actors in specific communities; norms shaped those actions and beliefs by constituting actors identities and interests. Constructing international relations: The next generation. We dont do that: A constructivist perspective on the use and non-use of private military contractors by Denmark. Power is influenced by norms, ideas, and practices; in a constructivist reading, power depends on how it is used and what it means in the interaction of states. Wendt, A. Thucydides the constructivist. Introduction to special section: from Nordic exceptionalism to a third order priority variations of Nordicness in foreign and security policy. Farrell, T. (2002). (3) state identities and interests are in important part constructed . Put simply, social norms were treated as independent variables explanations for varied behaviors observed in world politics. Steele, B., Gould, H., & Kessler, O. International Relations: Constructivism pt1 1. Katzenstein, P. J. The international system is defined by anarchy. There is an implicit equivalence made between contestation that goes on within a normative community (generated by the gap between general rules and specific situations) and contestation that occurs between different normative communities (inevitable tension between norms). Compliance studies tend to fall on the side of reasoning about norms, considering how actors react to external norms and attempts at socialization, while contestation studies tend to view actors as reasoning through norms, examining how communities of norm acceptors can alter the meaning of constitutive norms through their bounded interpretations of prevailing norms and actions in line with those interpretations. This goes against realist reliance on a world structured by anarchy that compels states to behave in certain ways, regardless of what sort of states they are (Farrell 2002, pp. However, when defined as ideas or expectations about appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998:891), it became an ideal conceptual tool for operationalizing processes of social construction. Critics found this dual understanding of the logic of appropriateness wanting and thus developed additional behavioral logics that modeled differing motivations and modes of behavior more explicitly. "It's refreshing to see the authors address the pedagogy of English language learners within a non-deficit model. An example here is in what is generally called the laws of armed conflict, such as the Geneva Conventions, which sets the rules for how victims of war are to be treated, and the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), which addressed the conduct of war, such as the types of weapons permissible in warfare. As Koschut (2014, p. 525) explains, this can transform the behaviour of states from a self-help manner to trust-building. Think here about realist logic at the end of the Cold War with the demise of bipolarity, NATO should have gone the same way as the Warsaw Pact. However, the success of this initial wave of constructivist norms studies was built on an analytic move that would engender significant debate in the 2000s. On the contrary, the two parts of the norms literature described above tend to find themselves on different ends of the reasoning about normsreasoning through norms spectrum. They do not simply replace bad norms but become established through what Finnemore and Sikkink (1998) call a norm cycle where new ideas and shared understandings emerge, become instituted and normalized. Realist international relations theory and the military. Identities are formed through shared meanings and understandings of the world, which then brings in culture, intersubjective or shared meanings and norms and values. Klotz (1995), for instance, chronicled how the anti-apartheid norm shaped the expectations and actions of the US towards South Africa in the 1980s. Introduction by Finley, John H. New York: Random House. This social learning aspect differs from realisms prescriptive approach that says nations will follow the strongest militaries to develop their strength and technological prowess with the anarchic structure of the international system guiding this logic. This freezing of norms tended to make them independent from politics as variables in political behavior. (pp. While arguments remain about constructivisms ontological commitments and efforts to build a bridge between rationalist and reflectivist approaches, its relevance for military studies can be widely seen in terms of how it can broaden thinking about how to see and respond to other actors in terms of security and cooperation. To be clear, constructivists have been quite good at demonstrating the replacement of one norm with another. Millennium, 33(3), 495521. Kurki, M., & Sinclair, A. One set of norm dynamics may be implied when one seeks to understand how an actor outside a normative community interacts with norms when it is the target of socialization. Although the theory lies more on non-material factors that govern states, it explains that politics also plays a role in international relations. The second generations focus on norms emerged in the 1990s and a third generation extends constructivisms scope to bring in critical theory, emotions, and political psychology, among other approaches(See Steele (2017), Steele et al. To dig deeper into what makes an agent or what structures global politics, constructivists look to norms and culture to make sense of what represents or guides behavior and how ideas of self inform that. The inescapable tension between general rules and specific actions ceaselessly casts up disputes which in turn generate arguments, which then reshape both rules and conduct. The logical chain from general norms to contestation is not long. For military studies scholars, his three cultures of anarchy help capture how conventional constructivism relates to military affairs and international security). The simplification of social norm dynamics at the foundation of the initial wave of constructivist norms writing contributed to the meteoric rise of social constructivism within the international relations literature. Assuming that actors reason through social norms means beginning analysis with the understanding that the very way that actors view and understand the world is shaped by social norms. In addition, rather than taking the external norm as given, recent socialization studies examine compliance with international norms as a process by which states (already normatively constituted) interact with, manipulate, and (sometimes) incorporate external ideas in a dynamic fashion. Following the initial success of empirical norms studies that established the efficacy of studying norms and showed that they mattered, current norms research explores when/where norms matter and how/when/why norms themselves change to a greater extent. London: Routledge. This is a continuous, two-way process (2013, p. 4). An example of this can be seen in the case of Libya in 2011, which is broadly hailed as a successful R2P intervention. Constructivist security studies: Portrait of a research program. Like its revision of anarchy as an ordering principle in international relations, constructivism also changed perceptions about the relationship between agents and structures, brought attention to how ideas matter as much as material factors, and how identity, norms, and culture shape global relations. European Security, 27(3), 356373. (2006). Social constructivism is not among the most popular theoretical approaches used in forecasting in International Relations. The article argues that constructivism suffers from the same limitations as any other paradigm in IR, therefore, there is no reason to exclude this theory from forecasting effort. Indeed, norms, identity, and ideas are key factors in constructivist theory. These initial waves of constructivist writing met the challenge issued by Keohane and played a significant role in vaulting constructivism into prominence during the 1990s and early 2000s (Checkel 1998, 2004). Risses (2000) and Sendings (2002) critiques focus on the taken-for-granted mode of action implied the logic of appropriateness. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Handbook of Military Sciences pp 116Cite as, 2 Constructivism sees power in terms of what it does and means (Guzzini 2005); ideas have power (e.g., that democracies are good). Constructivism The international relations theory that suggests that people create their own reality, . It examines the socialization process as more one of contestation between different normative systems and has broadened the scope of analysis to include attempts at socializing both powerful and weaker actors. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Conformance how social norms as intersubjective objects stabilize expectations and even bound what is considered to be possible (Yee 1996) was a crucial area for constructivists because without evidence of conformance with the strictures of social norms, constructivists could not demonstrate that norms mattered. The basics of constructivism How are self-understandings and identity constituted in the international realm? In essence, they theorized norm diffusion as taking place from a community of Western states constituted by compliance with universal human rights norms to individual Southern states. Katzenstein, P. J. But NATO transformed itself into something more than a military alliance. forthcoming). From the perspective of those who work on norms, there are very good reasons to focus on static and specific norms when analyzing international relations. Two types of normative dynamics can be identified: the first is endogenous contestation; the second is compliance or diffusion. Philosophy of military sciences. For decades, the theory of International Relations was dominated by two approaches: realism and liberalism. This article aims to illuminate how social constructivism has evolved as a mainstream international relation (IR) paradigm within a short period of time. More recent constructivist norms scholarship has revisited this perspective on social norms, positing a different set of normative dynamics more focused on contestation over social norms. Gheciu, A. Fierke, K. M., & Jrgensen, K. E. Finally, the sociology of the discipline faced by early empirical constructivist studies virtually forced constructivists to adopt a focus on static norms. Cham: Springer. - Ikechukwu Aloysius Orjinta - Google Books Sign in Try the new Google Books Books View sample Add to my library. Germany and Japan, for example, had antimilitaristic strategic cultures after the Second World War which impacted their military engagement and organization (Berger 1996; Hagstrm and Gustafsson 2015). IR: The resurrection or new frontiers of incorporation. In other words, actors can never significantly remove themselves from their social structure to make independent judgments. In international relations, constructivism is a social theory that asserts that significant aspects of international relations are shaped by ideational factors (which are historically and socially constructed), not simply material factors. This chapter will explore what constructivism is, and its underlying claims and key influences, while comparing its core tenets to theories such as realism (see Realist International Relations Theory and The Military by Schmidt in this volume) and liberalism (see Liberal International Relations Theory and The Military by Silverstone in this volume). This also goes to the foundation of questions of the causes of war. Bjrkdahl, A. Schmidt, B. An example of this can be seen in the rationalist understanding of behavior in warfare. First, both types of studies may benefit from more attention to the notion of intersubjective communities and their boundaries. Introduction. For neorealists, the relative material capabilities of states determine hierarchy and power in international relations.
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