social constructivism international relations

The essay proceeds by first describing the initial establishment of constructivist norms research and critiques that flowed from the original choices made. Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. Norms were conceptualized as having specific behavioral strictures (a relatively bounded set of appropriate behaviors) that did not change. In order to better understand compliance with and contestation over norms either in isolation or together, it is necessary to pay more attention to the prior understanding of who is in the community. 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. The nuclear taboo is another example of a regulative norm (prescribing non-use), but it was also a constitutive norm (associating the taboo with the idea that civilized nations would not resort to using nuclear weapons) (Tannenwald 1999). Introduction to International Relations Theory 100% (10) 63. Under a constructivist lens, the primacy of state survival in realist thought also undergoes reconsideration. (Eds.). Learning Objectives. They were aware of and noted the simplifications being made caveating their work with notations about the fluid and inherently contested nature of norms. Consider the shared norms that define military conduct and the institutions that have evolved around military practice; from the Geneva Conventions to the classic texts on warfare that are part of military training, a process of social interaction is taking place where norms are learned, and culture and identity are shaped. Norm-breaking behavior may be evident but is only problematic for constructivist arguments if norms are specific and static. Norms are also expectations about behavior (these are called regulatory norms because they define acceptable behavior). Erskine, T. (2012). Correspondence to Christine Agius . Constructivism accounts for this issue by arguing that the social world is of our making (Onuf 1989). Acharya (2004) goes further in that he allows for the substance of international norms to be molded to fit local contexts localization. Shannon (2000:294) makes a sophisticated argument along these lines, claiming that due to the fuzzy nature of norms and situations, and due to the imperfect interpretation of such norms by human agency, oftentimes norms are what states (meaning state leaders) make of them. Such an interpretation of constructivist thought moves him to make a familiar argument about the split between norm-based and interest-based behavioral impulses (Shannon 2000:298302; Van Kersbergen and Verbeek 2007). Constructivisms key influences come from sociological and philosophical perspectives on the nature of reality and phenomena, which brings knowledge, language, and social relations to the fore. Constructivism had been marginalized by these mainstream theories because it focused on social construction instead of material construction (Barkin, 2017). This paper's argument begins by assuming that constructivism is a contested concept. (1998). International Organization, 53(3), 433468. Another topic that requires further consideration in future research is the relationship between intersubjective and subjective reality. 1999; Jacobsen 2003). 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. Constructivism has developed over the years and it is now possible to speak of it in terms of generations. The first generation is identified in the 1980s, where constructivism focused on agents and structures. This recent research speaks to and is driven by broader questions of conceptualizing the relationship between actors and norms whether actors reason through or about social norms. This dynamism, it should also be noted, may not always be positive ideas about security can also regress or become less normative or progressive. Thucydides the constructivist. This is natural given that this work is still in the area of socialization. It is ideas, according to constructivists, that play a large role in determining how actors act. International relations and military sciences. Rather than passive receptacles, norm takers have a very active role to play in socialization and can influence the meaning of the norms that constitute the very community they are being asked to join (Ba 2006). The norms-oriented work that followed this initial burst of activity in the 2000s built upon the success that was achieved, but also changed the trajectory of research on social norms in world politics to include broader notions of norm dynamics. forthcoming). A further example of norm erosion can be seen in the norm against the use of torture. What if behavior was due to factors other than norms or ideas? 219227). London: Penguin. The rise of social constructivist thought in international relations theory as part of the fourth debate (see International Relations and Military Sciences by Roennfeldt in this volume) represented one of those break through moments that challenged some of the orthodoxy and key assumptions that guided the discipline. International Relations, 22(2), 243261. For the Athenians, the refusal of the Melians the much weaker party to submit and their preference for neutrality was an affront to their power. International Studies Quarterly, 60(3), 475485. forthcoming). These initial works laid the theoretical foundation for an approach to world politics that included the assumption that important aspects of politics are socially constructed, a commitment to mutual constitution as an answer to the agent-structure problem, a dedication to the importance of intersubjective reality in contrast to objective/subjective realities, and a focus on ideational and identity factors in analyses of world politics. 317356). Constructivism, normative IR theory and the limits and possibilities of studying ethics in world politics. At the core of social constructivism is the idea that international politics - and indeed human relations - are "socially constructed" rather than "given." Its core ideas are based around three ontological positions relating to identity, ideas, and mutual constitution. By Fizza Hameed Khan, Mahnoor Iqbal, Malaika Shahbaz, Sidra Noor, Raniya Ishtiaq. Along with recent work on strategic social construction the idea that norms can be deployed in the service of interests (regardless of whether those interests are pre-given or socially constructed themselves) or at least shape strategic behavior (e.g., Barnett and Coleman 2004; Muller 2004; Nielson, Tierney, and Weaver 2006; Seabrooke 2006) the recent writing on compliance has made progress on questions left open by the initial wave of empirical norms research. Today's video is the third in our IR 101 series in which we discu. However, this focus did little to advance understanding of how norms themselves change without necessarily being replaced (Van Kersbergen and Verbeek 2007; Hoffmann 2005; Chwieroth 2008; Sandholtz 2008). (2) Socialization how an extant norm or a nascent norm from one community diffuses and is internalized by actors outside that community. These dual visions of normative dynamics are likely related, but the norms literature has yet to describe how. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Altmetric. Social Constructivism posits the argumentation that academic discourse as opposed to political engagement is more fruitful in bringing about lasting and genuine change in global affairs. Instead of calculating what is best for improving its utility, an actor motivated by the logic of appropriateness will instead reason what actors like me should do. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1. (2016). Identifies the norms and ideas associated with them. This reimagining is not new. 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. London: Routledge. The dominant focus of traditional theories on state and distribution of . Wendt, A. In P. J. Katzenstein (Ed. The International Affairs Forum (2020), states that constructivists use both material and non-material explanations of social constructs. Constructivists say that to understand these sorts of questions, one cannot simply turn to material factors like military power these do not explain why some states are seen as threats and others as benign. From this mainly structural perspective, social norms were conceptualized as an alternative to rationalist/materialist variables in explanations of world politics. Cooperation and Conflict, 40, 1. Jacobsen (2003:60) recognizes the need to theorize this relationship observing that, constructivists of all stripes seem to agree that it is vital to theorize links between subjective experience and social/institutional structures. The two versions of norm dynamics discussed above posit different conceptions of the intersubjective/subjective relationship, but neither has developed the final answer to this open question. Social constructionism is not the norm. The current literature on compliance with social norms has taken a question that motivated the socialization studies of the 1990s Why do some transnational ideas and norms find greater acceptance in a particular locale than in others? (Acharya 2004:240) in new directions. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. Wiener (2004:203) argues that the interpretation of the meaning of norms, in particular, the meaning of generic sociocultural norms, cannot be assumed as stable and uncontested. It has major implications for an understanding of knowledge, including scientific knowledge, and how to achieve it. Holding social norms relatively constant in order to do this was deemed an acceptable trade-off. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. forthcoming). The realist reading of Thucydides account of the Melian Dialogue (431BC) in the Peloponnesian War is seen as the classic illustration of power politics. This aspect of the literature is more focused on how actors understand the norms that constitute them and alternatively consider how actors that reason through norms can contest and reconstruct the norms that bind communities together. Constructivists interested in norm change have recently begun reconceiving norm dynamics in a different way and have focused on contestation within communities of norm acceptors. For neoconservatives, Saddam Hussein represented a threat because he was seen as an irrational actor that has been hostile toward the USA (Tun 2005). Liberal international relations theory and the military. 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. Reviewing the complementary identity-oriented approaches is beyond the scope of this essay, but its neglect here in no way reflects the importance of this crucial aspect of constructivist theorizing (on identity see, e.g., Hall 1999; Hopf 2002). 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- Agius, C. (2006). Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 15(1), 923. Instead, constructivism is held together by consensus on broader questions of social process its position on the agent-structure problem and the primacy of the ideational and the intersubjective aspects of social life (for overviews of constructivism see Onuf 1998; Ruggie 1998; Finnemore and Sikkink 2001; Ba and Hoffmann 2003). Empirically oriented constructivists worked to show that shared ideas about appropriate state behavior had a significant impact on the nature and functioning of world politics. This suggests that there is something beyond the timeless wisdom of realism that offers only a tragic view of world politics that will never change. 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. 6667). [3] Likewise, understanding sovereignty means recognizing the principle of non-interference in another states internal affairs, recognition of a state as an entity and associated rights that come with that: all states recognize each other as sovereign, despite the huge differences in their ability to exert internal control and exercise international power (Farrell 2002, p. 54; Wendt 1992; Hopf 1998). Cooperation and Conflict, 40(1), 523. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. On the contrary, this analytic device has a deep history in the sociological and economic literatures. 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. While this is obviously a false dichotomy and constructivist studies do not treat norms as exclusively internal or external to actors, the distinction matters for how scholars approach compliance and contestation. Liberty University International Relations Chapter Four: Theories of International Relations: Economic Structuralism, Constructivism, and Feminism Notes. It is through human agreement that a piece of paper, metal, or even cryptocurrency is seen as a form of money, which is assigned a certain value (Searle 1995, 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. The logic of arguing has inspired the development of significant empirical research (e.g., Muller 2004; Bjola 2005; Leiteritz 2005; Mitzen 2005) and it is the foundation for some approaches to reasoning about social norms (the logic of consequences is also implicated in approaches that consider that actors reason about norms). (Ed.). About us. Contestation over variants of universal participation then had significant impact on the evolution of the universal participation norm and climate governance outcomes. His refusal to allow the UN weapons inspectors into Iraq during the buildup to war in 2003 was seen as irrational to many in the west. Grand strategy, strategic culture, practice: The social roots of Nordic defence. Social theory of international politics. 134). (1951). Yet, the analytic choices made had consequences for how norms were understood and these initial conditions significantly shaped both constructivist analysis and the kind of critiques of norms research that subsequently emerged. 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. (). Ideas about whether actors reason about norms or through norms can be linked to underlying behavioral logics that constructivists have devised and developed since the inception of the approach. Constructivism focuses on Norms, Ideas, and behaviors in order to understand how IR works and why people do what they do. European Security, 27(3), 356373. Constructing institutional interests: EU and NATO enlargement. Yet, Wittgenstein's notion of family resemblances helps in understanding why an essence of constructivism need not be found. One of the big problems for rationalists, (When considering critiques of constructivism, it is important to note that those critiques are guided by the underlying epistemological and ontological positions of rationalist or other forms of theorizing.) Critiques Lack a theory of agency: - According to Hopt (The Promise of Constructivism in international relations theory, 1998), constructivism is an approach, not a theory; or at most a theory of process. Constructivism is relevant to military studies in numerous ways. Cham: Springer. A paradox of social norms is their dual quality. Does R2P matter? What if anarchy was not a given condition that ordered world politics? Weber, C. (1999). Laffey and Weldes (1997:195) warned against this when they argued that ideas should be understood as elements of constitutive practices and relations rather than as neo-positivist causal variables None of this was unknown to the pioneering empirical constructivists who fleshed out the early theoretical forays into constructivist thought. Glanville, L. (2016). Both compliance and contestation studies have broadened our understanding of norm dynamics allowing norms themselves to change and exploring the conditions under which norms will elicit conformance but they do so in different ways. Social constructivism emerged out of key debates in international relations theory in the 1980s concerned with agents and structures and has come to be seen as the fourth debate in international relations theorizing, which pitches constructivist against rationalist perspectives (Fierke and Jrgensen 2001, p. 3). Mearsheimer, J. J., & Walt, S. M. (2003). Norms that challenged ideas like genocide, apartheid, the use of nuclear weapons, how to treat prisoners of war, how combatants are defined, and the role of women in armed forces emerge in opposition to existing norms. Zehfuss, M. (2002). Constructivism is a theory of knowledge which argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning through world interactions and ideas. Of course, norms can be subjected to revision or even reversed. (1999). While some of the major criticisms of constructivist thought should be at the forefront when considering security and military problems through this lens, the potential to see the world in more dynamic terms is one of constructivisms leading contributions. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. Kurki, M., & Sinclair, A. One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. Kowert, P., & Legro, J. Bibliographical References Adler, E. (1997). Rasmussen, M. V. (2005). In discursive terms, language can convey meaning and associations, and define what is considered within and outside the norms (see Poststructuralism in International Relations: Discourse and the Military by Baumann in this volume). 124). Cham: Springer. Cortell and Davis (2005) still invoke fit or congruence between the local context and global norms in explaining compliance with an international norm, but their twists on this theme are: (1) to examine socialization of a powerful actor Japan; and (2) to conceive of fit not as a given, but rather the result of conscious domestic political activity. But the nuclear issue is also important because it shows how competing ideas about norms co-exist or contrast for example, former US President Donald Trump tried to change the norm around the use of nuclear weapons, arguing for the ability to use low yield nuclear weapons and the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review returned to the idea that nuclear superiority mattered (Tannenwald 2018). Third, rather than see international relations as an anarchic realm where the lack of a central authority above states guarantees security, constructivism makes the claim that agents and structures are mutually constituted or shaped by each other. Steele, B. 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