As we have seen in chapter 4, various factors can influence a country's interpretation of a convention. 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. (2009). Constructivism was and remains a very different approach to world politics than its erstwhile competitors. Table of Contents; Introduction to Social Constructivism: Rise of Social Constructivism in IR: Constructivism as social theory: Constructivist theories of International Relations: Actors can see and interpret the world and approach it differently therefore, anarchy is what states make of it. For Wendt, different cultures of anarchy were possible, which meant that the neorealist idea of a self-help system was limited to just a Hobbesian version that depended on military power for security. Similarly, treating social norms as static independent variables led to calls for constructivists to define the conditions under which normative and nonnormative influences on behavior are likely to be the most important in determining behavior (Legro and Kowert 1996; Risse et al. 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). 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. Constructivist explanations of different phenomena related to the military can highlight how norms and identity come into play. 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. This has led the constructivist literature away from Keohanes (1988) original vision of a division of labor constructivists provide insight into what the interests are, rational approaches take the analysis from there (Legro 1996). https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-saddam-idUSTRE56113O20090702. forthcoming). In other words, actors can never significantly remove themselves from their social structure to make independent judgments. 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. Kessler, O., & Steele, B. (1996). It was first coined by Nicholas Onuf in 1989 in his book " The World of our making " where he put. 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). Tannenwald, N. (2017). Critical constructivists pay greater attention to issues of power and dominant discourses that construct national identity.. Social constructivism primarily seeks to demonstrate how the core aspects of the international relations are contrary to the assumptions of Neorealism and Neoliberalism within the frame of social construction, taking up forms of ongoing processes of social practice and interaction. 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. 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. Constructivism in international relations: The politics of reality. The International Affairs Forum (2020), states that constructivists use both material and non-material explanations of social constructs. 1. Despite their position of material weakness, the Melians argued that freedom and justice are more important. Th e article argues that constructivism suff ers from the same . Silverstone, S. (2021). (2016). In eliciting conformance and stabilizing expectations norms do not and cannot define all possible behavior, especially when a norm first emerges. Risse (2000:6) captured the essence of the internal critique when he noted that the logic of appropriateness actually encompasses two different modes of social action and interaction. In one mode, appropriate actions are internalized and become thoughtlessly enacted at times as a precursor to or foundation of strategic behavior (Risse 2000:6) actors reasoning through social norms. Constructivism and the nature of international relations Constructivism efforts to give a better understanding of international relations by its method which is based on social theory. Roennfeldt, C. F. (2022). 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). 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. 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. 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. Yet, Wittgenstein's notion of family resemblances helps in understanding why an essence of constructivism need not be found. But we dont call it torture! 219227). There is considerable confusion in the field on what precisely constitutes social constructivism and what distinguishes it from other approaches to international relations.1 As a result, it has become fairly common to introduce constructivism as yet another substantive theory of international rela- 3. If it was not, then the international order and what security means could be something completely different. Social Constructivism posits the argumentation that academic discourse as opposed to political engagement is more fruitful in bringing about lasting and genuine change in global affairs. Constructivism has provided a broader approach to understanding international relations and security beyond rationalist frameworks. International Organization, 46(2), 391425. European Review of International Studies, 3(3), 713. Social norms were considered, in many ways, the medium of mutual constitution. 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. Identity and culture can be problematic categories and distract from other factors that can explain international relations, such as capitalism or patriarchy (Kurki and Sinclair 2010). Whether a state is democratic or autocratic, for example, does not seem to matter for neorealists such as Kenneth Waltz (see Realist International Relations Theory and The Military by Schmidt in this volume), because the anarchic structure is what is important for understanding state behavior. Constructivism insists that reality is subjective. 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. Norms in international relations: Some conceptual and methodological reflections. The causes of the Iraq war. A number of recent studies have examined just this tension and the range of empirical topics being considered from this perspective is now quite broad. A paradox of social norms is their dual quality. Its value also depends on the market, so it can go up and down, or buy more or fewer things, dependent on inflation, and other variables. International Politics, 47(1), 125. Hopf, T. (1998). This reimagining is not new. Making sense, making worlds: Constructivism in social theory and international relations. In A. M. Sookermany (Ed. Conformance how social norms as intersubjective objects stabilize expectations and even bound what is considered to be possible (Yee 1996) was a crucial area for constructivists because without evidence of conformance with the strictures of social norms, constructivists could not demonstrate that norms mattered. The nuclear taboo is another example of a regulative norm (prescribing non-use), but it was also a constitutive norm (associating the taboo with the idea that civilized nations would not resort to using nuclear weapons) (Tannenwald 1999). The second generations focus on norms emerged in the 1990s and a third generation extends constructivisms scope to bring in critical theory, emotions, and political psychology, among other approaches(See Steele (2017), Steele et al. The realist reading of Thucydides account of the Melian Dialogue (431BC) in the Peloponnesian War is seen as the classic illustration of power politics. New York: Oxford University Press. Scholars working in this vein often begin by critiquing the analytic move to freeze the content of norms. Cortell and Davis (2005) still invoke fit or congruence between the local context and global norms in explaining compliance with an international norm, but their twists on this theme are: (1) to examine socialization of a powerful actor Japan; and (2) to conceive of fit not as a given, but rather the result of conscious domestic political activity. 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). What if behavior was due to factors other than norms or ideas? In this regard Social Constructivism ushers itself in, in the discipline of International Relations as a new alternative to the traditional theories that have hitherto monopolized the way political scientists have been viewing the inter - and intrastate events. Steele, B. 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. Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. Percy, S. (2016). 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. 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. Social constructivism is well suited to address continuous changes in European integration. Psychology and Constructivism in International Relations: An Ideational Alliance. March and Olsen introduced the discipline to the notion of behavioral logics in delineating the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness, framing their discussion in terms of a rationalist-sociological debate (March and Olsen 1998). 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