To gain acceptance and make the case that constructivist ideas mattered empirically, constructivists endeavored to demonstrate how their ideational perspective could provide superior understanding and explanation of political phenomena. NATO and the New Europe. For liberals, the belief that liberal ideas such as democracy and the free market are ideas to be shared to make the world a better place suggests a transfer of ideas rather than an exchange of ideas. 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.) (1996). 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. ), Do the Geneva Conventions matter? Nonetheless, constructivist approaches to identity, norms, and ideas about the world and its social relations can impact understandings of what it means to be secure. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. On the contrary, early, empirically oriented constructivists worked to demonstrate that shared ideas about appropriate state behavior had a profound impact on the nature and functioning of world politics. 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. Global Affairs, 4, (45), 355362. The nuclear taboo: The United States and the normative basis of nuclear non-use. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. European Journal of International Relations, 3(3), 319363. In correlation to this, it would be fruitful to acknowledge the role of constructivism in international relations theory, as one could argue it is closely related to this analysis, where one may draw parallels between Norway and Sweden in the comprehension of the research. Treating social norms as fully formed, static constructs, even for analytic convenience, underplayed this dynamism. 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). forthcoming). van Meegdenburg, H. (2019). Rather the controversies mainly focus on how far one can push one logic of action to account for observable practices and which logic dominates a given situation. They demonstrated that constructivism consisted of more than a metatheoretical critique of rational/material approaches and could indeed be used to structure rigorous empirical investigations across the spectrum of issues in international relations. They consider that actors can stand outside a normative structure to consider options. 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). 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. Its 1999 Strategic Concept altered the organization from a Cold War alliance to something more akin to Deutschs idea of a security community that was based on common values, norms, and identity, making democracy and human rights central. 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. Tannenwald, N. (2017). Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. Finally, the sociology of the discipline faced by early empirical constructivist studies virtually forced constructivists to adopt a focus on static norms. 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. https://doi.org/10.1080/23340460.2018.1533385. An example of this can be seen in the case of Libya in 2011, which is broadly hailed as a successful R2P intervention. Wendt tends to view state identity in a singular way which can omit its complexity. Springer, Cham. They serve as concrete foundations for the different conceptions of norm dynamics that are emerging in the current literature because they provide conceptions of how actors and norms are linked. But Wendt also identified a Lockean culture that demonstrated some restraint in warfare and a Kantian culture that was guided more by cooperation (Wendt 1999). 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. They were aware of and noted the simplifications being made caveating their work with notations about the fluid and inherently contested nature of norms. (2019), and Kessler and Steele (2016) for recent advanced debates.) Hi!Welcome back to the King's College London International Relations Today Youtube channel. Social constructionism is not the norm. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 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. Whose progress, which morals? A further example of norm erosion can be seen in the norm against the use of torture. 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). Focusing on these elements of normative dynamics led to progress in how constructivists understood conformance with normative strictures, the spread of existing norms, and the emergence of new norms. As Luke Glanville illustrates, while there were favorable conditions to ensure a successful R2P intervention (Gadaffi had made clear threats that evoked calls for genocide, the League of Arab States wanted international action and Libya had few allies), [E]ven those states that refused to endorse the resort to military forcerecognized the weight of the imperative to protect Libyan civilianseven if they disagreed over the means with which to do so (2016, p. 193). In contrast to these other approaches, constructivism is a social theory (or family of social theories) or theory of process (Adler 1997, 2003; Checkel 1998; Wendt 1999; Hoffmann 2009), which means it necessarily lacks a priori commitments on key elements of international relations theories the identity, nature, interests, and behavior of important actors and the structure of world politics. From the perspective of those who work on norms, there are very good reasons to focus on static and specific norms when analyzing international relations. But the existence of a norm is dependent on continual enactment by communities of actors actors thus also experience norms, at least in part, as internal rules (Hoffmann 2005). It was a tool for constructivists to show that ideas, norms, and morals mattered vis--vis rationalist variables in explanations of world political phenomena. Despite their position of material weakness, the Melians argued that freedom and justice are more important. 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). ), The culture of national security: Norms and identity in world politics (pp. 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. However, some scholars found the mode of action where actors consciously reason about what is appropriate to be a problematic foundation for constructivist thought. 1999; Jacobsen 2003). Combining the beliefs, norms and values of influential individuals, as well as the state as a whole, creates its identity, which then influences its behaviors. The literature that has followed this keystone research (e.g., Acharya 2004; Cortell and Davis 2005; Farrell 2005; Mastenbroek and Kaeding 2006; Kornprobst 2007; Capie 2008) moves beyond the boundaries of earlier socialization research, especially the tendency to focus on displacement of local/domestic ideas with international norms through transnational teaching (Finnemore 1996; Finnemore and Sikkink 1998; Keck and Sikkink 1998; Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink 1999) or to attribute norm diffusion to fit between global and local norms (Cortell and Davis 1996; Florini 1996). In military exercises with other nations, states share practices and ideas and in doing so, learn from each other. 394395). The identity of agents such as states matter because identity helps determine national interests. These dual visions of normative dynamics are likely related, but the norms literature has yet to describe how. An example of this can be seen in the rationalist understanding of behavior in warfare. 6061). The culture of national security. International Organization, 46(2), 391425. In addition to considering how the two types of norm dynamics are related, the current norms literature brings traditional open questions in constructivism into sharp relief. How are self-understandings and identity constituted in the international realm? 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. Social constructivism is not among the most popular theoretical approaches used in forecasting in International Relations. How shared culture and identity matters in international security can be illustrated with the example of nuclear weapons. In P. J. Katzenstein (Ed. These works argue that norms do not provide fully specified rules for every situation, and especially not for novel situations. Although some debate exists over whether it is more of an approach rather than a theory (McCourt 2016, p. 476), its importance for international relations can be found in its emphasis on social relations between actors; how actors relate to each other shapes international politics. As states interact with other actors in the international system, their ideas and identity can change over time, which can produce a more dynamic understanding of international relations. They are both based on philosophical views. CrossRef Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, You can also search for this author in Table of Contents Table of Contents. Norms and regulations. European Journal of International Relations, 5(4), 435450. Constructivists argue that international life is social, resulting from the ways people interact with each other (i.e. 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. Two have become particularly prominent compliance with the strictures of social norms and change in norms themselves. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. Tannenwald, N. (1999). 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 empirical focus tended to be on either the development of a European polity (e.g., Checkel 2001) or on attempts at socializing Southern states into (relatively) universal international norms like human rights and sovereign statehood (Finnemore 1996; Risse et al. Fierke, K. M., & Wiener, A. 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. However, the separation between the two kinds of norms research discussed above may ultimately be artificial. Cooperation and Conflict, 51(2), 184199. Lebow, R. (2001). (Eds.). ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. Introduction: Reconstructing epistemic communities. Two types of normative dynamics can be identified: the first is endogenous contestation; the second is compliance or diffusion. Katzenstein, P. J. All of this came about through processes of socialization and persuasion, where interested groups such as NGOs, epistemic communities, and other actors not only successfully changed the norm around the treatment of civilians and combatants in warfare but instigated this norm as part of identity, and how states define right behavior. Katzenstein, P. J. The study and practice of international relations has led international relations scholars to suggest different . ), Routledge handbook of private security studies (pp. Second, analytic tractability is necessary and is no trivial accomplishment. Is Dewey a social constructivist? The initial wave of empirical norms work provided a solid foundation for the newly emergent constructivist approach, but it tended to bracket the vibrant existence of norms themselves. 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). 1820; see also Katzenstein 1996). Guzzini, S. (2005). In this sense, power is a social category. International Relations: Constructivism pt1 1. The dominant focus of traditional theories on state and distribution of . How militaries assess and interpret threat can be related to culture, intersubjective meanings, and social networks and understandings. The Washington Quarterly, 41(3), 89109. 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. Part of Springer Nature. These initial waves of constructivist writing met the challenge issued by Keohane and played a significant role in vaulting constructivism into prominence during the 1990s and early 2000s (Checkel 1998, 2004). Nordic strategic culture. Zehfuss, M. (2002). This is akin to what Krebs and Jackson (2007:434) describe as implication contests where actors agree on the nature of an issue, but not the policy implications and framing contests where there is fundamental disagreement about the situation at hand. International norms dynamics and political change. ), Handbook of military sciences (pp. An example here is in what is generally called the laws of armed conflict, such as the Geneva Conventions, which sets the rules for how victims of war are to be treated, and the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), which addressed the conduct of war, such as the types of weapons permissible in warfare. Allowing the meaning of social norms to vary in the course of analysis can quickly devolve into an expository morass. Haas, P. M. (2016). If it was not, then the international order and what security means could be something completely different. INRODUCTION T O INTERNA TIONAL RELA TION THEO RIES 23/10/2018. 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. - Checkel (1998) argues that "without more sustained attention . 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. New York: Columbia University Press. The strange career of Constructivism in International Relations" en Puchala, Do . 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. European Journal of International Relations, 12(3), 341370. The Sandholtz (2008:121) passage quoted above brings together the two types of normative dynamics discussed in this section. Making sense, making worlds: Constructivism in social theory and international relations. The link was not copied. Social theory of international politics. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. 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. Mlksoo, M. (2018). 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). Constructing IR: The third generation. Farrell, T. (2002). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. 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. For neorealists, who take a structural explanation of international relations and argue that anarchy shapes world politics, states are like units distinguished only by their distribution of power and capabilities states were primed to behave the same way because the anarchic structure instructs them so. 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. 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. Is something rotten in the state of Denmark? Constructivism and European integration. 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. International Studies Review, 4(1), 4972. 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. Within this London: Routledge. What was it all about after all? 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. Second, there is a division between what is generally called conventional and critical constructivism (Hopf 1998), largely over questions of state centricity and treatment of identity. Rather than see security and conflict in the same way, actors will interpret and pursue security based on the ideas, norms, identities, and values that have meaning for them. The irreducible core of constructivism for international relations is the recognition that international reality is socially constructed. Recent efforts to ensure gender equality in militaries represent a normative shift, affecting operations and culture. Sookermany, A. M. (2021). International Organization, 52(4), 887917. The influence of Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant (17241805) on constructivist thought can be seen regarding ideas about knowledge and objectivity, in that knowledge of the world is filtered through frameworks of understanding. Yet this dominant view of international relations was significantly challenged by Alexander Wendt in the early 1990s with the simple premise: anarchy is what states make of it (Wendt 1992, pp. The causes of the Iraq war. 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