Constructivism (international relations)

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In international relations (IR), constructivism is a social theory that asserts that significant aspects of international relations are shaped by ideational factors.[1][2][3] The most important ideational factors are those that are collectively held; these collectively held beliefs construct the interests and identities of actors.[1][3]

In contrast to other prominent IR approaches and theories (such as realism and rational choice), constructivists see identities and interests of actors as socially constructed and changeable; identities are not static and cannot be exogenously assumed.[1][2][4][5] Similar to rational choice, constructivism does not make broad and specific predictions about international relations; it is an approach to studying international politics, not a substantive theory of international politics.[1][6][7] Constructivist analysis can only provide substantive explanations or predictions once the relevant actors and their interests have been identified, as well as the content of social structures.[1]

The main theories competing with constructivism are variants of realism, liberalism, and rational choice[additional citation(s) needed] that emphasize materialism (the notion that the physical world determines political behavior on its own), and individualism (the notion that individual units can be studied apart from the broader systems that they are embedded in).[1] Whereas other prominent approaches conceptualize power in material terms (e.g. military and economic capabilities), constructivist analyses also see power as the ability to structure and constitute the nature of social relations among actors.[8][7]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Barnett, Michael L. (2018). Gheciu, Alexandra; Wohlforth, William C (eds.). "Constructivism". The Oxford Handbook of International Security. pp. 85–99. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198777854.013.7. ISBN 978-0-19-877785-4. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06.
  3. ^ a b Wendt, Alexander (1999). Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–4. ISBN 978-0-521-46960-9.
  4. ^ Wendt, Alexander (1992). "Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics". International Organization. 46 (2): 391–425. doi:10.1017/S0020818300027764. ISSN 0020-8183. JSTOR 2706858. S2CID 221990913.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference zero2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Fearon, James; Wendt, Alexander (2002), "Rationalism v. Constructivism: A Skeptical View", Handbook of International Relations, SAGE, pp. 52–72, doi:10.4135/9781848608290.n3, ISBN 9780761963059
  7. ^ a b Hopf, Ted (1998). "The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory". International Security. 23 (1): 171–200. doi:10.2307/2539267. ISSN 0162-2889. JSTOR 2539267.
  8. ^ Barnett, Michael; Duvall, Raymond (2005). "Power in International Politics". International Organization. 59 (1): 39–75. doi:10.1017/S0020818305050010. ISSN 1531-5088. S2CID 3613655.