Chapter 3, Paradigms : Constructivism Flashcards
according to constructivists, international relations are ______ ______ through ____.
according to constructivists, international relations are SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED through NORMS.
define social facts.
social facts focus on the meanings we collectively attribute to certain behaviours. in that sense, something exists because we collectively believe it does.
define regulative rules.
regulative rules regulate an activity, which exists whether or not the rules exist.
define constitutive rules.
constitutive rules create the very possibility of the given activity (without the rules, the activity wouldn’t exist).
define social structures.
social structures are stable arrangements of institutions whereby states in the system interact with one another. they are constructed through sustained practices and impact us as if they were universal truths, simply because we collectively believe in them
according to constructivists, what is the importance of material power?
while material power matters, it matters simply because of the collective meaning we give to it (e.g.: in the Canadian perspective, the UK acquiring 25 warships isn’t the same as North Korea acquiring those 25 warships).
define shared understandings.
it is a mutual expectation of behaviours. you expect B to act a certain way because you both have the same understanding of B’s role in the system. it can also explain how we collectively give meaning to certain social structures.
explain how international politics are considered to be socially constructed.
sustained practices impact social structures, which in turn construct state identities. those state identities give way to state interests, which affect how states interact with one another.
for example, states continually practice mutual defection and have shared expectations of distrust, which creates the social structure of the security dilemma. this constructs an identity based on self-interest and competition. this way, states are always trying to maximize their security and their national interest is to ensure their survival. therefore, states won’t trust each other and will always assume the worst-case scenario.
what is vertical nuclear proliferation?
when a state acquires more and more nuclear weapons.
what is horizontal nuclear proliferation?
when more and more states acquire nuclear weapons.
why do some scholars believe nuclear proliferation to be neither good nor bad?
they believe that nuclear proliferation has deterrent effects and can help stabilize the system. moreover, nuclear states behave with caution and moderation, knowing that other nuclear states could attack them.
why do some scholars believe nuclear proliferation is bad?
nuclear weapons are not controlled by states, but by imperfect decision-makers. these individuals can take very dangerous decisions, no matter how rational we believe them to be. nuclear weapons can easily fall into the hands of terrorist organizations. they can promote nuclear states to be more aggressive, knowing that non-nuclear states cannot retaliate.
define the logic of appropriateness.
- the social actor, given its social identity and social context, assesses the possible course of action
- the social actor identifies each course of action’s level of appropriateness
- the social actor chooses the most appropriate course of action (what is deemed as legitimate)
the more ________ a norm is, the more we ____ __ __ _____, the more ______ it is.
the more INTERNALIZED a norm is, the more we TAKE IT FOR GRANTED, the more POWERFUL it is.
what are the three stages to a norm’s life cycle?
- norm emergence
- norm cascade
- norm internalization
