The Peloponnesian War. Zehfuss, M. (2002). Two strands of research, on the relations between strategic behaviour and international norms and between rationalism and constructivism, serve as examples of promising research in constructivist international relations theory. The International Affairs Forum (2020), states that constructivists use both material and non-material explanations of social constructs. As Tannenwald says, [e]ven as states pursue their interests, they do so within a normative structure (2017, p. 17). Constructing institutional interests: EU and NATO enlargement. 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. Power in the constructivist sense is less concerned with material power but sees ideas and discourses as powerful; power can be exercised in different ways. 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). Social constructivism is a school of thought in International Relations (IR) theory. (1) Normative behavior how an extant norm influences behavior within a community. The Athenians demand that neutral Melos side with them against Sparta. From this perspective, the logic of appropriateness, as it was developed through engagement with the logic of consequences foil, allowed the socially constructed ideational/normative world to play a role by providing cues as to what behaviors were appropriate. We unlock the potential of millions of people worldwide. (Eds.). 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. 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. The dominant belief about identities in our societies is essentialism. Constructivists also emphasize how domestic norms and values play a role in how states and their militaries approach conflict or understand the causes of conflict. Rebuttals to constructivist arguments used evidence of behavior that was inconsistent with the specific and unchanging strictures of norms in question to claim that nonconstructivist (usually material or rational) factors must be the driving catalyst of political behavior and outcomes (Shannon 2000). 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. It has major implications for an understanding of knowledge, including scientific knowledge, and how to achieve it. The empirical studies in this area were diverse. Social Constructivism or Constructivism is a theory in International Relations which holds that developments in international relations are being constructed through social processes in accordance with ideational factors such as identity, norms, rules, etc. This approach challenged the rationalism and positivism of neorealism and neoliberalism. Constructivist explanations of different phenomena related to the military can highlight how norms and identity come into play. The norms (both established and potential) meaning, constitutive properties, and behavioral strictures remain unchanged throughout the analysis (Van Kersbergen and Verbeek 2007). Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. Quintessentially, Finnemore and Sikkink (1998:914) noted the highly contingent and contested nature of normative change and normative influence in their examination of the norm life cycle. The belief that reality is socially constructed leads constructivists to place a greater role on norm development, identity, and ideational power than the other major theoretical paradigms. 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. While early constructivist theorizing proved to be an exciting new avenue for thinking about international relations in the abstract, both constructivists and their critics were eager to see constructivist theory applied empirically. Constructivism is a structural theory of the international system that makes the following core claims: (1) states are the principal units of analysis for international political theory; (2) the key structures in the states system are intersubjective rather than material; and. Indeed, norms, identity, and ideas are key factors in constructivist theory. Constructivism argues that culture, social structures and human institutional frameworks matter. Whose progress, which morals? 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. 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. As Onuf states: Constructivism holds that people make society, and society makes people. forthcoming). ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. It stresses the social dimensions of International relations. Constructivism sees power in terms of what it does and means (Guzzini 2005); ideas have power (e.g., that democracies are good). While constructivists do not deny the importance of material factors, they also argue that ideas also matter, and in some cases, matter more. 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. The concept of power: A constructivist analysis. Ideas do not float freely: Transnational coalitions, domestic structures, and the end of the cold war. In both cases, compliance with an international norm behaving in a way that matches the behavioral strictures of the norm is expressly theorized and variation in compliance is explained not by pitting constructivist and rationalist/materialist variables, but by examining processes by which domestic actors interpret and manipulate international and local norms. Whereas Morgenthaus classical realism described interests in terms of power as a truism of international relations, in empirical terms, power might not be a driver for states interests and actions. But some states refuse to do this, even if it is in their material interests to do so (see the example of neutral states in this chapter). (2006). Katzenstein, P. J. 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. 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 Review of International Affairs, 15(1), 923. They consider that actors can stand outside a normative structure to consider options. 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). Norm-breaking behavior may be evident but is only problematic for constructivist arguments if norms are specific and static. European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), 341370. Handbook of Military Sciences pp 116Cite as, 2 Moreover, social constructivism emphasizes social relations in global politics, and sees security and international politics as determined by ideas as well as material factors. What does it derive its name from (it's fundamental proposition)? You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Agius, C. (2022). 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. Bruner (1990) and Piaget (1972) are considered the chief theorists among the cognitive constructivists, while Vygotsky (1978) is the major theorist among the social constructivists. People who share an identification are then assumed to share unique traits and attributes. In other words, actors can never significantly remove themselves from their social structure to make independent judgments. The identity of agents such as states matter because identity helps determine national interests. 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. The second big claim of constructivism is that ideas matter with rationalist theorizing, material factors take precedence. International relations and military sciences. forthcoming). 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? 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. International Studies Quarterly, 60(3), 475485. A Social Constructivist Interpretation of the Liberal Argument," European Journal of International Relations 1 (December 1995)CrossRef Google Scholar. 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. Early constructivist work in the 1980s and early 1990s sought to establish a countervailing approach to the material and rational theories that dominated the study of international relations (e.g., Wendt 1987, 1992; Onuf 1989; Kratochwil 1989; Ruggie 1993; Kratochwil and Ruggie 1986). The compliance literature is most often concerned with the actions of actors (Japan in the Cortell and Davis piece or the Southeast Asian nations in Acharyas work) who have yet to accept or internalize international norms (financial liberalization and cooperative security/humanitarian intervention). Staff & Defence College, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo, Norway, Norwegian Defence University College / Norwegian Military Academy, Oslo, Norway. Lebow, R. (2001). 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). Constructivism was and remains a very different approach to world politics than its erstwhile competitors. Fierke, K. M. (2001). International Politics, 53(2), 176197. Adler, E. (1997). To be clear, constructivists have been quite good at demonstrating the replacement of one norm with another. Constructivism has provided a broader approach to understanding international relations and security beyond rationalist frameworks. Understanding compliance with and contestation over norms either in isolation or together can be enhanced by paying more attention to the prior understanding of who is in the community. (Ed.). His (2000:2) logic of arguing is designed to clarify how actors develop a common knowledge and how norms and ideas can have a constitutive effect while retaining the reflection and choice Sending (2002:458) deems necessary for mutual constitution and change. Studies of contestation and norm change have begun to examine diverse issues like organizational change in international financial institutions (Nielson, Tierney, and Weaver 2006; Chwieroth 2008); European integration (Meyer 2005; Van Kersbergen and Verbeek 2007; Dimitrakopoulos 2008); environment (Bailey 2008); election monitoring (Kelley 2008); and security (Kornprobst 2007). Your current browser may not support copying via this button. 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. (pp. I also explored the growing body of constructivist . 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. International Organization, 52(4), 887917. In the context of the global war on terror, US efforts to extract intelligence from suspected terrorists led to the use of enhanced interrogation techniques which was widely seen to have abrogated or contested the global prohibition on the use of torture (Steele 2008a; see also Birdsall (2016) who argues that it worked to strengthen the anti-torture norm). 4. 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. Studies of norm diffusion or spread moved constructivists into the area of socialization. The initial empirical norms research tended to simplify normative dynamics to facilitate analysis and dialogue with competing perspectives, treating the norms that they analyzed as relatively static entities with relatively specific meanings and strictures. Social Constructivism Summary Notes. In the 1980s and 1990s, efforts to wind back the proliferation of nuclear weapons which by this stage had reached staggering proportions, particularly in the USA and USSR prompted scientists and nuclear experts, civil society organizations, and other actors, to form what is called epistemic communities. 1999). / (social) constructivism [1] [ ] [2] 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. Recent studies have taken the generic nature of norms more seriously and have subsequently focused on how actors must operationalize their normative context to take specific actions (Hoffmann 2005; Van Kersbergen and Verbeek 2007; Sandholtz 2008). The main two paradigms is the Realists and the Liberalist school of thoughts. (A vital critique of conventional constructivism that uses the case study of Germany and the debates to join in military interventions outside the NATO area). The UK and the USA are part of NATO, so share alliance membership, but have also stood shoulder to shoulder in conflicts like Afghanistan and Iraq in response to global terrorism, which both states understand to be an existential threat to their way of life. Meaning is socially constructed this epistemological claim suggests that depending on ones position and perspective, knowledge and meaning produce different interpretations (Guzzini 2005, p. 498). Second, at a broader level, the current norms literature is wrestling with the relationship between intersubjective and subjective reality. Some constructivists stress reflection and consider that agents are able to reason about the various pulls on their possible behavior (either solely normative/ideational pulls or those in addition to material/strategic pulls). Constructivism is a theory of knowledge which argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning through world interactions and ideas. Global Affairs, 4, (45), 355362. Social Constructivist International Relations and the Military. Yet the logic of appropriateness appears to cede the ground of purposeful, goal-oriented behavior to rationalist perspectives (whether it actually cedes this ground is an additional, and crucial question). Arguments over the different actions feed back and alter the meaning of the original norms. Realist international relations theory and the military. London: Routledge. The work of Cortell and Davis (2005) and Acharya (2004) are relevant examples of this type of compliance research. This pivot is an interesting development in norms research for two reasons. Constructivists hold that . While constructivism has made significant inroads into IR theorizing, it does not mean that it is unproblematic or immune from criticism. Constructivism (International Relations) For decades, the international relations theory field was comprised largely of two more dominant approaches: the theory of realism, and liberalism/pluralism. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. Critics too began to understand social norms as static and specific and this facilitated an erroneous notion that evidence of norm-breaking behavior somehow invalidated or falsified constructivist theorizing. To be specific, I navigated core tenets of constructivism in terms of its ontology, epistemology, and methodology, respectively. 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. For neorealists, the relative material capabilities of states determine hierarchy and power in international relations. 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