INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORIES: CONSTRUCTIVISM Dr. MARGARITA SESELGYTE Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius university, 2010

Social construction and identity politics have become buzzwords of international relations since 1990

CONSTRUCTIVISM VS. REALISM AND LIBERALISM A. Wendt does not see the main premises of realism and liberalism as wrong in general Criticize realism of being too general Criticize liberalism of not paying attention on non- regulatory norms

RATIONALISM VS. REFLECTIVISM Traditional paradigms were not capable to explain some issues that evolved on the international arena in 20 Century Main flaws of these paradigms was that they paid too much attention to the material issues and oversimplified rationalization of international relations Reflectivism has challenged rationalism, emphasizing the need of interpretation of events rather than the empirical data

POST-POSITIVISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Methodological challenge for positivism There is no objective truth The truth is only a choice Social structures shape believes and behavior The world is made out of ideas Control over identity makes one extremely powerful

POST-POSITIVISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Critical theory Postmodernism Constructivism Normative theory Post – positivism also is a broad church: it includes different methodological outlooks: critical theory, postmodernism, constructivism and normative theory. Critical theory – is a development of Marxist thought. It seeks to unmask the global domination of the rich North over the poor South. Critical theory views knowledge as inherently political, social scientists and social science are instruments of power. Postmodernism – disputes the notions of reality, of truth, of the idea the there is or can be ever expanding knowledge of the human world. Narratives are always constructed by author and are thus always contaminated by his standpoint and prejudices. Narratives can be de-constructed. Constructivists - agree with positivists that we can accumulate valid knowledge about the world. But contrary to them emphasize the role of ideas, of shared knowledge of the social world. States construct each other in their relations, and in so doing they also construct the international anarchy that defines their relations: anarchy is what states make of it (does not necessarily dictate any logics of mistrust). Normative theory – attempts to clarify the basic moral issues of international relations.

CRITIQUE OF POST-POSITIVISM Too much emphasis on relativity If there is no objective truth – postulated of post –positivists are also disputable No consistent theory and methodology of analysis Too critical towards positivism however cannot offer solutions how to solve problems

DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTIVISM Refers to the claim that ideas, besides material matters, have an impact on politics (it would differ from rational choice in that this impact is not necessarily reducible to calculated strategic action) All constructivists with the exception probably of the most radical ones share two understandings: social construction of knowledge and construction of social reality Different collective meanings are attached to material world twice as social reality and as scientific knowledge Dynamic not static picture of the world – constantly under the construction

DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTIVISM II Constructivism is not a type of theory as realism or liberalism Meta –theoretical position (meta theories are theories about theories) Meta-theories do not explain but say how to explain what A single meta theory can accommodate a variety of different theories

EVOLUTION OF CONSTRUCTIVISM In social sciences builds on the centuries of intellectual developments in philosophy, sociology and social theory Four currents of thought have affected IR constructivism neo-Kantian objective hermeneutics linguistic subjective hermeneutics critical theory pragmatist philosophy of science

EVOLUTION OF CONSTRUCTIVISM II Nicholas Greenwood Onuf Emanuel Adler Alexander Wendt

MAIN DEBATES WITHIN CONSTRUCTIVISM Agent – structure debate Epistemological debate Theoretical debate

DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIVISMS Conventional, critical and postmodern constructivism Thick/real, static/realist and regime constructivism Epistemological and sociological Four camps of constructivism according Cecelia Lynch and Audie Klotz

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION Constructivists believe that reality is socially constructed They also believe that the knowledge that we have about the reality is socially constructed

RATIONALITY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Though constructivists do not neglect existence of rationality, they argue that rationality is relative Utilitarian calculation becomes possible only after an actor has already taken attitude towards a situation. Agents do not choose between the most efficient alternative, but follow rules that associate particular identities to particular situations, approaching individual opportunities for action by assessing similarities between current identities and choice dilemmas and more general concepts of self and situations

CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS The first acknowledgement of the influence of cultural factors for the strategic behavior of the state might be found in explanation of Persian Wars by Herodotus For a long time cultural variables were neglected as of the secondary importance in the international relations highly predominated by the high politics The interest for the impact of the cultural differences for the behavior of the states started to grow in the second half of the 20th Century (constructivism, gender studies, differences of civilizations etc.)

Historical experience Perception of the world Values Political culture OBJECTIVE/ TANGIBLE CHARACTERISTICS Size Population Economy Geographic position Size and capacity of AF Interests SUBJECTIVE/ CULTURAL FACTORS Historical experience Perception of the world Values Political culture National character First of all to make any decision or action in the international domain, a state has to have capacity for that in terms of size, economy and other tangible criterias. The interests are also a driving force determining what decision the country would take. But cultural variables are giving the real meaning to the left side of the slide. E.g. A. Wendt “ the weapon in the hands of a friend or a foe means totally different things” 4. Countries are different, they speak different languages, they worship different heroes, they behave differently in the same situations and they fight in a different way. The foreign policy of every democratic country cannot but take into account the characteristics of culture of neighbouring countries when reaching decisions in foreign affairs, 5. It is worth mentioning that cultural factors are becoming of the major importance especially in the crisis situations, when one does not have time for the calculation of all the factors and evaluation of several alternatives, the one simply acts relying on the Common sense, which brings us again to the realm of cultural variables 6. It is also necessary to understand that cultural characteristics of the states are more persistent through the time, as interests might change overnight, but it is not very easy to change the culture

SUBJECTIVE RATIONALITY State A Interests, capabilities etc. REACTION EVENT CULTURAL LENSES State B Interests, capabilities etc.

IDENTITY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Identity is a social category it is a relation of individual with himself, with the notion of we and other Relatively stable but over the time changing concepts and expectations related to certain role Identity is a framework in which interests and politics of the states evolve 4 types of identities: corporative, type, role, collective

HOW IDENTITIES WORK IN FOREIGN POLICY INTERNATIONAL BEHAVIOR INTERESTS IDENTITIES FOREIGN POLICY Strategic behavior and security policy related. Security policy and development of AF might be imposed by the alliance.

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