The identity of agents such as states matter because identity helps determine national interests. Introduction to special section: from Nordic exceptionalism to a third order priority variations of Nordicness in foreign and security policy. As Sandholtz (2008:101) puts it disputes about acts are at the heart of a process that continually modifies social rules. (3) state identities and interests are in important part constructed . We unlock the potential of millions of people worldwide. Denmark exhibits of soft form of neoliberalism compared to that of the USA or UK, affecting views of the role of the market in terms of outsourcing security; moreover, Denmark has hard commitments to international humanitarian law which is likely to have tempered direct engagement of PMSCs (2019, pp. Main Theorists. Constructivists provided empirical studies on a full range of topics important to the international relations discipline both in areas largely neglected by mainstream international relations like human rights (Klotz 1995; Risse, Ropp and Sikkink 1999), development (Finnemore 1996), and areas directly relevant to mainstream concerns like security (e.g., Legro 1996; contributors to Katzenstein 1996; Price 1997; Tannenwald 1999). (2016). The seminal volume edited by Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink (1999) was the fountainhead for much of this research as it provided an explicit mechanism for how a particular set of human rights norms diffused beyond the community that originally endorsed them. Wendt, A. 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). Sookermany, A. M. (2021). 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. Lebow, R. (2001). Risses (2000) and Sendings (2002) critiques focus on the taken-for-granted mode of action implied the logic of appropriateness. New York: M. E. Sharpe. ), Constructing international relations: The next generation (pp. These dual visions of normative dynamics are likely related, but the norms literature has yet to describe how. ), The culture of national security: Norms and identity in world politics (pp. International Studies Quarterly, 60(3), 475485. 23) and recognized as a medium of exchange for goods and services. 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). Constructivism considers these interactions as a sociological process in which its agents and structures are centered in a reciprocal constitution; a part of society can not be understood without the other ones. Constructivist International Relations theorists tend to use concepts of socially constructed identities, ideas and norms to empirically and analytically examine . 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. ), Do the Geneva Conventions matter? The international system is defined by anarchy. (1996). 1999; Jacobsen 2003). 1516). Theories on International Relations: Social Constructivism PJ October 14, 2018 Human Rights, Law and International Relations Previous Next The social constructivist approach is distinctive in that it emphasises human consciousness and knowledge in a way that 'treats ideas as structural factors which influence how actors interpret the world.' What Is Social Constructivism? Further, constructivists became more cautious about basing their analyses on the logic of appropriateness. Adler, E. (1997). What is the main argument of constructivism? 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. Glanville, L. (2016). 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. Table of Contents; Introduction to Social Constructivism: Rise of Social Constructivism in IR: Constructivism as social theory: Constructivist theories of International Relations: 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. 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. Wiener (2004:198) warns us that studying norms as causes for behavior leaves situations of conflicting or changing meanings of norms analytically underestimated. Certainly norms exhibit stability, as they are recognizable by the common expectations that they structure but, paradoxically, norms are also in a constant state of dynamism and flux. 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). This chapter will also cover the different branches of constructivist thought and the main critiques of constructivism to highlight its key contributions and the problems it also raises. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. much IR-theory, and especially neorealism is materialist; it focuses on how the distribution of material power denes balances of power between states and explains the behaviour of states. Those who study contestation do allow for reasoning about norms, appealing to notions of interpretation to generate different understandings of a norm with a community of norm acceptors. Just as liberalism was a response to realism, economic structuralism is a response to liberalism. 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. They posited the LoA as a corrective. Norms and identity in world politics. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. Constructivism sees power in terms of what it does and means (Guzzini 2005); ideas have power (e.g., that democracies are good). Philosophy of military sciences. Moreover, military alliances are increasingly not just about physical security but about binding together states with shared interests, identities, and norms. This was seen as a backward step and a challenge to the taboo norm that had developed over preceding decades. Clearly this is a continuum because if agents were truly independent from or entirely dependent upon social structures, we would not be talking about constructivism. 317356). Nordic strategic culture. Social constructivism can also help make sense of security and military phenomena, such as alliances and threat perceptions, or why states go to war. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. 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. Norms are born anew every day as actors instantiate them through their beliefs and actions and, as Sandholtz (2008:101) notes, normative structures, in other words, cannot stand still.. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. forthcoming). Instead social norms are generic rules that allow agents to behave and get along in a wide range of situations. The link was not copied. (2010). Farrell, T. (2002). This perspective states that the . In P. J. Katzenstein (Ed. 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. 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. Social Constructivism Summary Notes. In the last decade the development of constructivist thought and empirical research has been occurring more on terms defined by constructivism itself (Checkel 2004). By the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, constructivists were engaging with both the small number of big important things that Waltz (1986:329, cited in Finnemore 1996:1) famously claimed for structural realism and the large number of big important things that other approaches ignored (Finnemore 1996:1). Google Scholar. 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. 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 main two paradigms is the Realists and the Liberalist school of thoughts. In: Sookermany, A.M. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. The Washington Quarterly, 41(3), 89109. Self-identity and the IR state. They (2005:25) note, As domestic actors search about for new ideas to legitimate their self-interested preferences, the norms and institutions of the international system often provide them. While Cortell and Davis do not problematize the substance of the financial liberalization norm under examination, they do attend to a neglected aspect of norm dynamics the actions of those actors who are targeted for socialization. New York: Columbia University Press. The scope of military conduct can also be institutionalized, and constructivism provides a way to understand such processes. New York: Columbia University Press. Altmetric. Initial constructivist studies of social norms generally clustered into three areas. This criticism over methodology, it should be noted, does not wholly apply to the conventional strand of constructivism, which Wendt says can employ positivist scientific methods to verify or falsify claims (Wendt 1999); for example, to know something about a states military culture, one could look to opinion polls, regulations, training manuals, and the curricula at military academies that can provide data or information about how ideas and norms inform approaches to military organization and culture (Farrell 2002, pp. Both of these critiques run afoul of constructivist logic yet are legitimate given how norms were conceptualized in the initial wave of empirical constructivist work. Constructivists are often too fast and loose with the use of the term norm without a concomitant discussion of what the community of norm acceptors looks like and by what criteria we can identify a community of norm acceptors. International Organization, 52(4), 887917. 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. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Other scholars deemed the logic of appropriateness (as well as the logics of consequences and arguing) to be too agentic to fit well with constructivist tenets. Is something rotten in the state of Denmark? Constructivism and European integration. Constructivists are certainly aware that actual behavior in world politics fails to correlate exactly to what are in essence ideal typical models of behavior. But norms are never static and this meaning has also changed over time for instance, with the rise of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), sovereignty as an institution has become contingent on states fulfilling certain criteria such as not committing human rights abuse. New York: Oxford University Press. In P. M. Haas (Ed. (2016). While realists would argue that decision to go to war are based on rational state interests, constructivists would argue that the Geneva Convention represents the idea that war is a social and cultural practice and driven by moral considerations. First, both types of studies may benefit from more attention to the notion of intersubjective communities and their boundaries. The translation requires interpretation a subjective understanding of the intersubjective context to decide on a behavior. Legro (1996) provided insight on a traditional security issue by delineating how normative ideas embedded in organizational culture at the domestic level could explain puzzling (for traditional international relations theories) variation in war fighting decisions in World War II. How strong is the nuclear taboo today? 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. 1 2. introduction "the focus of social constructivism is on human awareness or consciousness and its place in world affairs. For example, when considering what national identity means for a state like the UK, critical constructivists would include forgotten experiences or identities that make up its multicultural society, rather than just define British identity as white. Even so, more recently there has been some rejection of the ICC by a few African states, signaling that some states are unwilling to accept its authority. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. Empirical norms studies have both drawn on these debates and fueled them with empirical data supporting different claims. Abstract. 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. Throughout the chapter, reference will be made to constructivisms epistemological (how we know it), ontological (what we know), teleological (what is the purpose), and methodological (the tools we use to study) standing, where it is located in IR theorizing, and what it can mean for understanding military phenomena (see Philosophy of Military Science by Sookermany in this volume). Norms are shared beliefs, knowledge, and practice about the world in this sense, they are intersubjective, meaning a norm can be understood and shared amongst actors. An example of this can be seen in the case of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was created in 2002 to hear cases of war crimes. States interactions are socially constructed. Social constructivism is a school of thought in International Relations (IR) theory. Constructivism demonstrates the flexibility and critical stance that characterizes the reflectivist theories by stressing the socially constructed aspect of international realities and highlighting the ever-changing nature of the study of International Relations. An example of this can be seen in the rationalist understanding of behavior in warfare. If it was not, then the international order and what security means could be something completely different. This standpoint of Constructivism is contrary to the 'atomized' Even among security communities such as the Nordic states, different strategic cultures can be found because they are informed by a range of historical and cultural experiences, with different experiences of war and conflict, membership of alliances, and other factors (see special issues of Cooperation and Conflict (2005) and Global Affairs (2018) for further discussions). https://doi.org/10.1080/23340460.2018.1533385. Cham: Springer. Social phenomenon such as states, alliances or international institutions, are not thought to exist independent of human meaning and action. 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. It has major implications for an understanding of knowledge, including scientific knowledge, and how to achieve it. Constructivism is an International Relations (IR) theory. Constructivism has provided a broader approach to understanding international relations and security beyond rationalist frameworks. Constructivism's approach to the subjects of threat, conflict and security in global politics originated from their fundamental emphasis on the social dimensions of international politics, thus it defined them as socially constructed elements in the process of identity formation under the influence of the norms and shared values of society. 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. What does it derive its name from (it's fundamental proposition)? Interpreting the impact of a norm. While constructivists know that social norms are always being reconstituted in the dynamic interplay of agents and social structures known as mutual constitution, social norms do elicit common behavioral expectations such that they are recognizable as relatively stable shared ideas. 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). If any further proof were needed for the continuing rise to fame of constructivism in International Relations, this would be it . The realist reading of Thucydides account of the Melian Dialogue (431BC) in the Peloponnesian War is seen as the classic illustration of power politics. International Studies Review, 4(1), 4972. 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. 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. 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. In M. Evangelista & N. Tannenwald (Eds. 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. Social constructivism is not among the most popular theoretical approaches used in forecasting in International Relations. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. (1951). 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. (2021). Zehfuss, M. (2002). Perhaps more fundamentally from a feminist perspective, Locher and Prugl contend that the objectivist stance of many constructivist scholars is inconsistent with their social ontology. Cooperation and Conflict, 51(2), 184199. Constructing institutional interests: EU and NATO enlargement. Viewed in this way, as Onuf insists, "Constructivism applies to all fields of social inquiry" and "is a way of studying social relations - any kind of social relations." 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. Contrastingly, neorealist prescriptions of power see it as hard, material, military power (such as large military forces or superior weapons) and are concerned with its distribution in the international system. 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.. Gheciu, A. 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. In this sense, power is a social category. 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). 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. Cham: Springer. (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). 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. 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). Sending goes so far as to claim that the logic of appropriateness is incompatible with constructivist thought because it violates the tenets of mutual constitution and does not allow for change he contends (2002:458) that in the logic of appropriateness, social structure has objective authority over actors, not allowing for the kind of reflection necessary for mutual constitution and change. This is a continuous, two-way process (2013, p. 4). (2008a). International Organization, 48(2), 185214. In this regard, although posited by Wendt as a via media (1992, 1999) or middle ground (Adler 1997) with rationalism, constructivism offers a different view of key concepts like power. 3536). NATO and the New Europe. B., & Heikka, H. (2005). Norms, identity, and national security in Germany and Japan. Despite their position of material weakness, the Melians argued that freedom and justice are more important. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. The category of social norm was not an invention of constructivism. 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. Other articles where constructivism is discussed: international relations: Constructivism: In the late 20th century the study of international relations was increasingly influenced by constructivism. Identities are formed through shared meanings and understandings of the world, which then brings in culture, intersubjective or shared meanings and norms and values. International Relations, 22(2), 243261. INRODUCTION T O INTERNA TIONAL RELA TION THEO RIES 23/10/2018. Another topic that requires further consideration in future research is the relationship between intersubjective and subjective reality. Tactical constructivism, method, and international relations. According to this approach, the behaviour of humans is determined by their identity, which itself is shaped by society's values, history, practices, and institutions. Kurki, M., & Sinclair, A. Identifies the norms and ideas associated with them. Holding social norms relatively constant in order to do this was deemed an acceptable trade-off. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-saddam-idUSTRE56113O20090702. For military studies scholars, his three cultures of anarchy help capture how conventional constructivism relates to military affairs and international security). Hopf, T. (1998). FBI says Saddams weapons bluff aimed at Iran. How shared culture and identity matters in international security can be illustrated with the example of nuclear weapons. The first wave of empirical constructivist studies tended to freeze norms. In R. Abrahamsen & A. Leander (Eds. It is especially relevant and pertinent as a tool of criticism of widely held empirical and normative theories. This approach challenged the rationalism and positivism of neorealism and neoliberalism. Within this To be specific, I navigated core tenets of constructivism in terms of its ontology, epistemology, and methodology, respectively. 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. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Bjrkdahl, A. 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. Baylis revision International Relations. How militaries assess and interpret threat can be related to culture, intersubjective meanings, and social networks and understandings. This logic fitted well with the commitment to mutual constitution (the notion of what is appropriate for different identities is socially constructed) and it also laid the groundwork for the norms-based challenge to strictly material explanations of world politics. Acharya (2004) goes further in that he allows for the substance of international norms to be molded to fit local contexts localization. On the learning literature more generally, see Levy , Jack , "Learning and Foreign Policy: Sweeping a Conceptual Minefield (Review Article)," International Organization 48 (Spring 1994 . Second, and more significantly, both the norm compliance and norm change research agendas engage seriously with notions of normative contestation, directly problematizing aspects of norm dynamics that tended to be held constant in earlier work. (Ed.). Poststructuralism in international relations: An exploration of discourse and the military. What was it all about after all? It stresses the social dimensions of International relations. Ideals that were really never in our possession: Torture, honor and US identity. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. 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. Special issue. Thucydides. Part of Springer Nature. Binding together states with shared interests, identities, ideas and norms including scientific knowledge, and national security norms... 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