social constructivism international relationssocial constructivism international relations

For military studies scholars, his three cultures of anarchy help capture how conventional constructivism relates to military affairs and international security). Studies of norm diffusion or spread moved constructivists into the area of socialization. How militaries assess and interpret threat can be related to culture, intersubjective meanings, and social networks and understandings. Moreover, military alliances are increasingly not just about physical security but about binding together states with shared interests, identities, and norms. Treating social norms as fully formed, static constructs, even for analytic convenience, underplayed this dynamism. Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Moravcsik, A. (1996). Social constructivism is well suited to address continuous changes in European integration. e. In international relations, constructivism is a social theory that asserts that significant aspects of international relations are shaped by ideational factors. This was a vastly different kind of theorizing than was current in the mainstream of international relations that was locked in the neorealist/neoliberal debate (e.g., Krasner 1983; Keohane 1984, 1986; Baldwin 1990; Grieco 1990). Moreover, how NATO made this successful transition and ensured its survival relied on the dominant ideas about how the Cold War ended. Constructivist explanations of different phenomena related to the military can highlight how norms and identity come into play. Considering other factors to explain why states behave the way they do. Comprised of a series of conventions that go back to 1864, it is now a part of customary international law, so it applies to all states during warfare. The main two paradigms is the Realists and the Liberalist school of thoughts. This had some success. (Eds.). Finally, the third theory of international relations, known as Constructivism, focuses on ideas, shared beliefs and identity as the main drivers of success. 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. 5. Nordic strategic culture. (2017). Even though it was opposed by the USA, which did not want to subject its military forces to external war crime trials, it is an example of a constitutive norm (which creates new actors, interests and categories of action (Bjrkdahl 2002, pp. 1999). In the timeless wisdom of realist thought, the story of international relations is that the world is structured by anarchy. Prominent in this part of the literature was Finnemore and Sikkinks (1998) development of the norm life cycle whereby normative entrepreneurs (see also Nadelmann 1990) work to persuade states of the appropriateness of a new norm and serve as a catalyst for a cascade of new normative understandings. Hopf, T. (1998). Regional order and peaceful change: Security communities as a via media in international relations theory. Constructivism The international relations theory that suggests that people create their own reality, . Behavioral logics are concrete expressions of how mutual constitution works and what motivates actors to behave they way that they do. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. Yet, the degree to which agents are able to independently evaluate their social context (as well as their material reality as far as that goes) and act upon it is what separates different behavioral logics and it is one way that different constructivist approaches in the current second wave (Acharya 2004) of norms research can be differentiated. An alternative set of norm dynamics may be implicated when one seeks to understand change in norms themselves. (2019). It was a tool for constructivists to show that ideas, norms, and morals mattered vis--vis rationalist variables in explanations of world political phenomena. 55K views 2 years ago International Relations Constructivism is one of critical theories in IR criticizing the classical theories. Wiener (2007) has advanced what she is calling a new logic of contestedness and has explored (2004) the dynamics of interpretation and contestation in European responses to the 2003 Iraq War. 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. Journal of European Public Policy, 6(4), 669681. 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. It then turns to a discussion of two directions currently being explored in social norms research and the open questions that remain. Identity and culture can be problematic categories and distract from other factors that can explain international relations, such as capitalism or patriarchy (Kurki and Sinclair 2010). Some preexisting knowledge of speech act theory, constructivism, and securitization theory is useful before reading this chapter . International Relations, 22(2), 243261. Perhaps this is simply a matter of what questions are being asked. 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. He considers that existing norms constrain the possibilities for action, but that different understandings of those norms inevitably arise in the community of norm acceptors. If any further proof were needed for the continuing rise to fame of constructivism in International Relations, this would be it . Identities are formed through shared meanings and understandings of the world, which then brings in culture, intersubjective or shared meanings and norms and values. Rationalist critiques relate to constructivist methodology and epistemological claims. 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. Sandholtz (2008:121) deems this to be a built-in dynamic of change whereby the ever present gap between general rules and specific situations, as well as the inevitable tension between norms, creates openings for disputes.. The underlying idea of the logic of appropriateness that actors draw upon ideas about what they should do in specific situations given who they are was consistent with social constructivisms commitment to the causal and constitutive (Wendt 1998) effects of norms. Moreover, the Geneva Convention is an example of both a regulative and a constitutive norm, in that it not only proscribes state behavior but established a new international normative order, creating expectations for international behavior. Farrell, T. (2002). Trust, collective identity, shared norms, and intersubjective meanings are important for alliances and security communities, helping to ensure collective vision and purpose (Adler and Barnett 1998). Hoffmann (2005) employs insights from the study of complex adaptation to understand how states that all accepted the norm of universal participation in climate governance came to have different subjective understandings of that norm. This freezing of norms tended to make them independent from politics as variables in political behavior. NATO and the New Europe. Where liberals would declare that the west won, proving capitalism and democracy were the only workable ways to organize societies, in a constructivist reading, the end of the Cold War was largely down to the changes that were taking place in the former Soviet Union under Gorbachev (Risse-Kappen 1994). Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Understanding how ideas about danger and threat are socially constructed, and how states form social relations in the international system is a key starting point in discussions about global security. Social constructivism is a school of thought in International Relations (IR) theory. In other words, they worry that mutual constitution implies that actors have a difficult time stepping outside the bounds of their social/normative context to decide what is right to do. The ability to apprehend what is going on inside actors heads to understand motivations and interpretations is currently a matter for debate (Cederman and Daase 2003; Jackson 2004; Wendt 2004; Krebs and Jackson 2007) but, that debate notwithstanding, the notion that different actors within the same normative community i.e., a group structured by the same norm(s) could have different and contested understandings of that norm is at the foundation of the recent work on norm contestation. Doing so has opened up the field to bring in different explanations of global politics that can delve deeper into how culture and identity play a role in determining state interests. (1) Normative behavior how an extant norm influences behavior within a community. There is significant overlap with the socialization literature here as the mechanisms by which an idea becomes a norm are not all that different from the mechanisms by which an actor outside a normative community is brought within. These studies were inclined to treat social norms as independent variables and show how some political behavior is made possible or constrained by such ideational factors (e.g., Barkin and Cronin 1994; Klotz 1995; Finnemore 1996, 2003; Katzenstein 1996; Legro 1996; Price 1997; Tannenwald 1999). Constructivists used this logic in early efforts to contrast their work with more established rationalist perspectives on world politics (see especially Finnemore 1996) because the logic of appropriateness contends that actors in world politics undertake actions that are appropriate for their particular identity. IR: The resurrection or new frontiers of incorporation. Constructivists hold that . The Pacific Review, 28(1), 122. forthcoming). (pp. Having made the case that norms matter and having developed a number of theoretical frameworks to show how norms emerge, spread, and influence behavior, normsoriented constructivists have begun to turn their attention to a new set of questions. For March and Olsen, the logic of consequences where agents undertake actions on the basis of rationally calculating the optimal (usually materially) course of action remained an insufficient foundation for theorizing behavior in international relations. Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars . The study and practice of international relations has led international relations scholars to suggest different . 3. Prominent in the initial empirical norms research in this vein were studies that examined how given norms in a particular community diffused to actors outside the community (e.g., Risse-Kappen 1994; Keck and Sikkink 1998; Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink 1999; Checkel 2001; Johnston 2001). (2016). (). Norm contestation during the US War on Terror. 317356). 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. Ontological security in world politics: State identity and the security dilemma. Second, at a broader level, the current norms literature is wrestling with the relationship between intersubjective and subjective reality. (Ed.). (2010). 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. These works argue that norms do not provide fully specified rules for every situation, and especially not for novel situations. Indeed, norms, identity, and ideas are key factors in constructivist theory. For neoconservatives, Saddam Hussein represented a threat because he was seen as an irrational actor that has been hostile toward the USA (Tun 2005). They are thus animated entities that strengthen, weaken, and evolve. As Johnston (2001:494) clarifies, socialization is aimed at creating membership in a society where the intersubjective understandings of the society become taken for granted. These studies generally began from the perspective of a single, established norm and posited mechanisms (arguing, bargaining, persuading, and learning) for how the community of norm acceptors could be enlarged (Acharya 2004). London: Routledge. In essence, these scholars and those who draw upon their work consider that much of behavior in world politics arises from ingrained, unconscious motivations either habits or practices that drive precognitive behavior. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. Issues such as those discussed immediately above raise the third criticism about constructivism, that "a weak or at least a controversial epistemology has become the basis for a strong pedagogic policy" (Phillips 1995, p. 11)).The primary influence underpinning much of the theoretical commitments of constructivist pedagogy was a highly influential paper written by Posner et al. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Reuters, 2 July. The essay proceeds by first describing the initial establishment of constructivist norms research and critiques that flowed from the original choices made. 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. or alliances (as realists would argue?). Introduction by Finley, John H. New York: Random House. In his view, theories of cultures can not supplant theories of politics, and no casual theory of identity construction exists. Constructivism sees power in terms of what it does and means (Guzzini 2005); ideas have power (e.g., that democracies are good). As one notable example, Keohane (1988:392) critiqued this new perspective by arguing that the greatest weakness of the reflective school lies not in deficiencies in their critical arguments but in the lack of a clear reflective research program that could be employed by students of world politics. At the forefront of the initial empirical push in constructivist research were the norms-oriented and identity approaches. 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. Assessing the effects and effectiveness of the Geneva Conventions. Norms were conceptualized as having specific behavioral strictures (a relatively bounded set of appropriate behaviors) that did not change. For constructivists, a focus on identity makes it possible to consider more deeply how domestic factors, ideas, discourses, cultures, and norms shape the interests of states and the choices states make. Similarly, rather than dismissing the more agentic logics, Pouliot (2008:276) argues that the logic of practice is ontologically prior and it is thanks to their practical sense that agents feel whether a given social context calls for instrumental rationality, norm compliance, or communicative action.. In addition, the use of norms to study international relations directly challenged the orthodox assumption that the international realm was one largely devoid of sociality, merely a system of power calculations and material forces (a challenge also issued by the English school; see Bull 1977). Introduction to International Relations Theory 100% (10) 63. Writing in the 1950s, Karl Deutsch differentiated between amalgamated and pluralistic security communities, with the former referring to a security community with a shared government, and the latter involving an integrated yet separated political structure. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. 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. In other words, actors can never significantly remove themselves from their social structure to make independent judgments. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. 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. In this section you learn about: Realism, liberalism, constructivism, feminism and neo-Marxism as ways of explaining international relations. Moreover, social constructivism emphasizes social relations in global politics, and sees security and international politics as determined by ideas as well as material factors. Recent efforts to ensure gender equality in militaries represent a normative shift, affecting operations and culture. Allen, J. This review examines the constructivist norms-oriented literature from early efforts geared at gaining acceptance in a field dominated by the neorealist/neoliberal debates, through the recent emergence of agendas focused on norm compliance and contestation. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. The scope of military conduct can also be institutionalized, and constructivism provides a way to understand such processes. 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. If it was not, then the international order and what security means could be something completely different. In his study of how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its constituent states interacted with global norms, Acharya (2004:251) demonstrates that localization does not extinguish the cognitive prior of the norm-takers but leads to its mutual inflection with external norms. International norms are adapted to local circumstances by actors with the ability to observe and manipulate ideas from the external normative context in so doing they alter the substance of the international norm to build congruence. March and Olsen introduced the discipline to the notion of behavioral logics in delineating the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness, framing their discussion in terms of a rationalist-sociological debate (March and Olsen 1998). Klotz (1995), for instance, chronicled how the anti-apartheid norm shaped the expectations and actions of the US towards South Africa in the 1980s. London: Penguin. Norm emergence studies were concerned with how ideas come to achieve normative status (e.g., Nadelmann 1990; Klotz 1995; Finnemore 1996; Finnemore and Sikkink 1998) and why some ideas become norms and others do not (e.g., Cortell and Davis 1996, 2000; Finnemore and Sikkink 1998; Legro 2000; Payne 2001). This pivot is an interesting development in norms research for two reasons. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. What does it derive its name from (it's fundamental proposition)? Onuf, N. (2013). 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. Social constructivism is not among the most popular theoretical approaches used in forecasting in International Relations. (1996). Yet, Wittgenstein's notion of family resemblances helps in understanding why an essence of constructivism need not be found. Mitzen, J. Fierke, K. M., & Jrgensen, K. E. (One of the foundational texts that covers chapters on security and strategic culture, albeit from a mainly conventional perspective). Constructivism focuses on Norms, Ideas, and behaviors in order to understand how IR works and why people do what they do. How is it that western states like the UK, for example, do not fear thousands of nuclear weapons that the USA possesses, but worries about states like Iran or North Korea, who hold far fewer nuclear weapons? This has implications for the concept of anarchy, the agent-structure relationship, and national interests, but all three of these areas of research are also approachable through non-constructivist means. European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), 341370. ), The culture of national security: Norms and identity in world politics (pp. 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. Cooperation and Conflict, 40, 1. I would like to thank Alice Ba, Robert Denemark, Phil Triadafilopoulos, and the anonymous reviewer for their helpful discussions and suggestions on this essay. Instead social norms are generic rules that allow agents to behave and get along in a wide range of situations. Roennfeldt, C. F. (2022). Cooperation and Conflict, 40(1), 523. Discourse has power because language can shape how we view phenomena simple acts such as defining a conflict as one of terrorism, for example, then calls into effect a range of policy options associated with countering terrorism. 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