Constructivism

Question 1

Why is North Korea the number one nuclear threat today?

Answer 1

realism can’t explain: North Korea has little weapons and should thus pose little threat

liberalism: other countries with atomic weapons are democratic or partly democratic -> smaller threat

constructivists: North Korea isn’t a friend, e.g. England (more atomic weapons) is

Question 2

sept 2021 military alignment between Australia, UK and US (AUKUS), why not France?

Answer 2

realism can’t explain: France, Australia, UK and US have same interest to battle China

liberalism can’t explain: France is also democratic

constructivism: it’s about the Anglosphere

Five eyes: officially the last 15 years, English speaking parties share intelligence between themselves at a high level (so much that it kind of contradicts sovereignty), this can happen because of trust

Question 3

Debate over the name of Macedonia

Answer 3

multiple countries have interests/opinions about the name/area ‘‘Macedonia’’

Realism and liberalism can’t explain disputes/conflicts about names

Prespa agreement: shaping the name North-Macedonia as compromise

Question 4

Rename Russia to Muscovy?

Answer 4

Ukraine wants to rename Russia to Muscovy
because an old kingdom, Ukraine claims a common heritage (shared history) -> Zelensky wants historians to look at it

statue of Katherine the Great was taken away from Odesa -> ideas/culture/history matter in ir

Question 5

historical origins constructivism

Answer 5

• early 1990s
• reaction to the neo-neo debate: didn’t predict/explain the ending of the cold war + disappearance of the USSR
• criticism of foundational assumptions of IR
• eclectic origins: philosophy and sociology (verstehen vs. erklaren)

Question 6

Three core assumptions

Answer 6

• IR are socially constructed:
  objects, concepts, events don’t have fixed or objective meanings
• ideas matter:
  criticism of the materialist obsession of mainstream theories
• co-constitution:
  the world is what you believe it is

Question 7

IR are socially constructed

5

Answer 7

objects, concepts, events do not have fixed or objective meanings

• meanings aren’t completely fixed or straightforward, they are constructed through meaning-making and social interactions
• there is intersubjective, collective, shared meaning of materialistic facts

for IR: state and national interest aren’t fixed and can be interpreted in different ways

e.g. borders, money, flags are socially constructed
but also the weight/meaning of face masks and weapons (e.g. some weapons are seen as threat and some aren’t)

Question 8

material facts

Answer 8

brute facts

some things aren’t deniable, don’t have implications

Question 9

social facts

Answer 9

relational facts

some facts/concepts have roots in the common agreement on something, socio-relational facts

Question 10

ideas matter

Answer 10

criticism of the materialist obsession of mainstream theories

materialist structure doesn’t tell/explain enough of ir

state behavior isn’t only shaped by material, it is also discursive: power of ideas, norms, culture and language

whose ideas?
- elite’s ideas or embedded within institutions (organisational culture explains the behavior of the institutions)
- national identity and constructions of others (what differentiates states from each other -> ideas of what is part of national identity)

Question 11

Ideas matter examples

Answer 11

Gorbatchev’s ‘new thinking’ at the end of the cold war can explain the end of the cold war
- he established that ideas/perceptions can change

Putin’s worldview explains the war in Ukraine: Russia Imperialism conservatism & eurasianism

soft power: power beyond the material (Nye)

the idea of the democratic peace theory has shaped the behavior of states

Question 12

co-constituion

Answer 12

structure shapes actors/agents
+
agents/actors shape structures

actors -> practices -> shapes structure

structure -> constraints and options for actions -> actors/agents

Question 13

constructivists about anarchy

Answer 13

Wendt 1992: anarchy is what states make of it, it is because actors believe that it exists

if actors believed in other structures, there wouldn’t be anarchy

self-fulfilling prophecy
anarchy isn’t structural, it’s the result of practice

Question 14

constructivists about sovereignty

Answer 14

sovereignty is a myth that is built and enforced, it became an uncontested norm

norms aren’t objectively given, norms can compete with each other

Question 15

constructivists and the nuclear taboo

Answer 15

• not just a rational cost-benefit calculation that let to deterrence: many close calls
• normative basis of nuclear non-use
• inhibition due to first use on Japan? Use of nuclear weapons can lead to loss of support from the Eastern region
• nuclear taboo principles/incentives are tested today (Russia and North Korea)

Question 16

Norm life cycle

Answer 16

diffusion and distribution of ideas and internalization of norms

stage 1: norm emergence (norm entrepreneurs introduce the norm)

stage 2: ‘‘norm cascade’’ : socialization, spreading through society

stage 3: ‘‘internalization’’ emulation (new norms become taken for granted, are no longer debatable)

Question 17

logic of consequences

Answer 17

cost-benefit analysis to make decisions

Question 18

logic of appropriateness

Answer 18

believe in an appropriate way to behave

Question 19

constructivists on the war on terror

Answer 19

• war on terror is a social interaction: identity is relational (US: you are either with us or against us)
• meaning of actions is constructed through specific discourses: using ‘the war on terror’ confused two terms that have traditionally been distinct (war and terrorism)
• concept of securitization: naming a threat as a priority justifies a suspension of normal rules of politics -> allows elites to take extraordinary measures

Question 20

controversies within constructivism

Answer 20

• whether states are the main actors or not
• what topics to study (level of analysis: structure v. agency)
• how to study/theorize: explanatory v. critical
• strategic behavior and norms/ideas: independent role and influence of norms or instrumental role of ideas/norms

Question 21

constructivism studies

(don’t memoryse)

Answer 21

• How the world is made and remade through action.
• How the structures of world politics do not merely constrain but also constitute the identities,, interests, and practices of the actors of world politics
• How actors unwittingly or purposely reproduce these structures
• How human action is responsible for both stability and change in world affairs

Question 22

Constructivism in contrast to liberalism and neorealism

Answer 22

liberalism and neorealism are committed to individualism and materialism

neorealism and liberalism recognize that ideas and norms can constrain how states pursue their interests, but they don’t recognize that ideas and norms might define their interests

Question 23

individualism (liberalism + realism)

Answer 23

view that actors have fixed interests and that the structure contains their behavior

Question 24

materialism (liberalism + realism)

Answer 24

view that the structure that constrains behavior is defined by the distribution of material power, technology and geography

Question 25

idealism

Answer 25

demands that we take the role of ideas in world politics seriously

Question 26

holism / structuralism

Answer 26

the world is irreducibly social and can’t be decomposed into the properties of already existing actors

• does allow agency: agents have some autonomy and their interactions help to construct, reproduce and transform those structures

Question 27

the role of knowledge

Answer 27

knowledge shapes how individuals construct and interpret their worlds

historically produced and culturally bound knowledge helps individuals construct and interpret their worlds

Question 28

practice

Answer 28

socially meaningful pattern of action which produce and reproduce background knowledge and discourse

Question 29

regulative rules

Answer 29

rules that regulate already existing activities

e.g. rules to regulate trade

Question 30

constitutive rules

Answer 30

create the possibility for activities

e.g. rules of sovereignty make the practice of sovereignty possible

Question 31

legitimacy

Answer 31

the belief that actors are acting in according to and pursuing the values of the broader community

popular acceptance, the quality of being acceptable/reasonable

Question 32

power in the eyes of constructivists

Answer 32

ability of one state to compel another state to do what it otherwise wouldn’t

forces of power go beyond the material and also beyond the ability to change behavior (also power to change ideas)

Question 33

diffusion

Answer 33

how particular models, practices, norms, strategies, or beliefs spread within a population

Question 34

institutional isomorphism

Answer 34

organizations that share the same environment will over time resemble each other

• some institutions are just better than others (effectiveness)
• coercion (e.g. colonialism -> spread capitalism)
• reform institutions to show they belong with the club with the goal of getting resources
• periods of uncertainty -> adoption of models that seem effective
• symbolic standing of models/institutions
• professional associations and expert communities diffuse organizational models
• strategic competition (keeping up with competition)

Question 35

norm

Answer 35

a standard of appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity

Question 36

norm life cycle doesn’t mean we are moving to uniformity, why not?
5

Answer 36

• cultural match
  some norms don’t match with some cultures
• norms can become transmuted and take different meanings as they are adopted in different contexts
• that states look alike doesn’t mean they act alike (that they take on a norm doesn’t mean they act accordingly)
• norms that seem established can become contexted
• power is always present in any normative order (norms that have disappeared can still hold power (e.g. racism) + norms are uneven (humanity: not everyone was seen as human at first))

Question 37

Concept of securitization

Answer 37

naming a threat as a priority justifies a suspension of normal rules of politics -> allows elites to take extraordinary measures