Class 18: Constructivism and Feminism Flashcards
Definition of Constructivist
Ideas matter and have an independent effect, encompass idealism
What does constructivism challenge?
Realism
What can realism not explain?
1) how change occurs (struggle to explain transition)
2) how identities are formed (doesn’t define criteria for success of identities)
Constructivist Assumptions
1) ideas matter and independently shape human behavior and organization
2) ideas affect people’s preferences and the strategies to achieve them
3 Problems of Constructivism
1) Young and therefore lacks a coherent reproducible theory of learning and idea transmission
2) no theory of selection (why certain ideas die or flourish)
3)difficult to measure the impact of ideas
What does Alexander Wendt argue?
Anarchy in the international system is more than just the absence of overarching authority
Points of Alexander Wendt
1) anarchy is what states socially make of it
2). even in anarchy, there are types of state-created order
3). very debatable
What is the goal of James Lee Ray?
To test whether delegitimizing the idea of war can eliminate its incidence compared to the delegitimizations of slavery and colonialism that ended those practices.
What is economic materialism?
Marxists view history as a class struggle through economic stages: slavery -> feudalism (economic materialism) each stage reflects a more efficient mode of production than the previous.
What is the Purpose of Critical Theory/Post-Modernism?
Concerned with explaining why certain minority groups and the developing world are disadvantaged.
Interlinked Assumptions of Critical Theory/Post-modernism?
1) reality defined by discourse
2) perspective of reality depends on the reference point of the viewer
3) reality is relative
4) discourse represents power relations
5) critical theorists seek to liberate individuals
Problems of Critical Theory/Post-Modernism?
1). lack of reproducible epistemology due to its relativistic nature
2). difficulties in testing similar to constructivism
Assumptions of Feminist Post-modernism?
1). the structure of language domination has given rise to feminine and masculine sets of ideas
2). there are no biological causes of behavioral differences between men and women
3). international state of affairs largely a product of masculine ideas
4). feminine ideals are desirable because they are life-giving and male ideals are undesirable because dominating
Masculine Ideals:
(a) distinguish between self and nature into subject and object (facilitates domination)
(b) places objectivity over subjectivity
(c) empirical over normative
(d) abstract over narrative
(e) logic over reason
(f) individuality over community
6 feminist critiques of realism
1). objectivity is masculine, so dynamic objectivity is better
2). national interest is not simply about power, but multidimensional and interdependent
3). power is not a universal concept, it misses collective empowerment
4). normative and empirical inseparable
5) moral aspirations of nations cannot be reconciled with universal moral principles but there are common elements
6). denies the autonomy of the political
