Week 4 - English School and Constructivism

Question 1

What is the English School and what is it also known as?

Answer 1

The English School is also known as the International Society and it is a product of the 1970s and 1980s.

The aim of it is to try and find a middle way between realism and liberalism and therefore it was a product of middle power actors

Question 2

What principles of Realism are reflected in the English School?

Answer 2

• States are central actors
• Power is important
• There is no international government and therefore a strong belief in anarchy

Question 3

What principles of Idealism are reflected in the English School?

Answer 3

• Norms and values matter
• International law matters
• Human rights matter

Question 4

How does the English School reject Realism?

Answer 4

• There are other actors that are equally as important as the States
• There are more forms of power than State power
• Not pure anarchy but it is an anarchical society

Question 5

How does English School reject Liberalism?

Answer 5

• Cannot rely on laws to fully structure the international system and laws can only go so far
• Power in the realist sense is a reality - strong states
• International system is a mix of power, norms, rules

Question 6

According to the English School, what are the three levels of the International System?

Answer 6

International System, International Society and World Community

Question 7

Outline the International System

Answer 7

This is where the realm of power politics is played. In this system, (1) there are interactions between actors but no shared rules, purposes or interests and (2) interactions take place due to practical contracts and (3) without an international system, there cannot be any International Society

Question 8

Outline the International Society

Answer 8

Shared norms and identities and therein a common interest in maintaining order. It views a society of states, peaceful cooperation and hope without delusion, but focuses on the idea that we have to concentrate on the norms that contribute to peace

Question 9

Outline the World Community

Answer 9

Very similar values around the world which focuses on the idea of universalist cosmopolitanism. Individuals rather than states are the key actors and therefore there are shared interests and values which link all parts of the human community and transcending the States.

Question 10

How can order be achieved within the International System, despite ideological differences?

Answer 10

Order can be achieved within the International System even if all the States do not have the same ideology or conception of justice and this is because there is a desire to maintain order and a basic respect and recognition for each other

Question 11

Why are some States ‘out’ of the pluralistic International System?

What problems does this cause?

Answer 11

Despite interactions, neither side believe themselves to be part of the same society and this can be due to the idea that some states may not share basic values at all = some states are part of the system but not part of the society.
This has severe implications i.e. they are at odds with the majority of the other states forming the International System and this means that they cannot benefit from the advantages of the International System. An example of this is North Korea who have limited interactions, no respects for basic human rights and a few shared values / no perception of common belonging and this can mean that they will be at odds with the International Society - then the IS can be under permanent threat.

Question 12

What is the Realist critique of the English School?

Answer 12

(1) There is no evidence that norms are determinants of state policy or behaviour, even the sovereignty norm
(2) Persistence of war: sovereignty is insufficient to deter predatory states
(3) Evidence of norms is weak and there is no such thing as an international society - used by weak states to comfort themselves

Question 13

What is the Liberalist critique of the English School

Answer 13

They should pay more attention to domestic policies and they cannot combine contradictory positions of state power and norms as this mixes both realism and liberalism.

Another critique is focused on the idea that the International Society focuses on order rather than justice - they did this because at the time of prominence of the theory, nuclear proliferation was the biggest worry and it was believed that we needed to focus on order in an attempt to keep us alive

Question 14

What is the Critical Theory critique of the English School

Answer 14

Looks to the idea that the theory legitimises the Westphalian system of states, which holds society stagnant and doesn’t allow them to develop

Question 15

What is Constructivism?

Answer 15

It stresses the socially constructed character of international relations and claims that political phenomenon are historically and socially contingent and therefore are not an inevitable consequences of human nature.

Question 16

What do Constructivists emphasise?

Answer 16

(1) The importance of ideas and values as explanatory factors and as a result of this, material and structural elements (power) are not sufficient enough to understand and explain international relations
(2) States’ behaviour is shaped by beliefs, ideas and social identities which is the idea of ideational conditions - norms do not only constrain states’ behaviour, they also constitute their identity.

Question 17

What is the connection between Constructivism and International Relations?

What is an Example?

Answer 17

States, borders and wars only exist because they are human creations - links to the idea that they are social - not material creations - and the only reason they exist is because we want them to exist - otherwise they are known as social creations.

An example is the Cold War and this is because as long as the two blocks perceived each other as the enemy - we had the Cold War. Therefore, as soon as Gorbachev said that ‘we are not enemies’, the USA stopped seeing the USSR as a threat, and then the Cold War ended.

Question 18

Why would Realists give Foreign Aid?

Answer 18

• Power maximisation

- Gaining allies, economic advantage and prestige / wanting a one up on actors

Question 19

Why would Liberals give Foreign Aid?

Answer 19

• Interdependence, free trade and progress

- Promoting a liberal free trade world

Question 20

Why would Marxists give Foreign Aid?

Answer 20

• Global systems of exploitation

- Exploiting the South through the promotion of the Liberal principles

Question 21

Why would Constructivists give Foreign Aid?

Answer 21

• Ideational factors explain decisions
• Development norms have been endorsed and this creates the conditions for the development regimes and accepted perception of justice

Question 22

Outline Feminist International Relations

Answer 22

It emerges out of the critical theory and post - structuralism traditions, but also has links to constructivism, but it does not have one single framework.

Question 23

What are the two angles of approach to Feminism?

Answer 23

(1) Feminism draws attention to women’s invisibility and gender subordination in International Relations
(2) Empirical studies such as violence towards women and therefore, if the concept of women/gender is constructed or represented in a certain way, social norms and reality will reflect that construction and representation

Question 24

How has the construction of women as inferior led to a normalisation of power politics?

Answer 24

If there is a construction of women as inferior there are practical consequences for International Relations e.g. a desirable foreign policy has historically been one which strives for power and protects the states from external dangers (= masculine characteristics). This leads to the normalisation of power politics and the perpetuation of the system which is unequal and violent - this means that we will design a society that is inherently unequal (once you create the action your vision will respond to that action. By adding the feminist vision, we attempt to understand why International Relations as a practice and a discipline is masculine as well as enhancing the ability in recognising the limits and biases in International Relations both theoretically and practically.

Question 25

What are the 3 basic assumptions of Constructivism?

Answer 25

(1) Propose the idea that social construction suggests difference across context rather than a single objective reality - they seek to understand change at the international level
(2) Emphasise the social dimensions of international relations and have demonstrated the importance of norms, rules and language at this level
(3) Argue that international politics is a ‘world of our making’ and this is based on the idea that it is not that actors are totally free to choose their circumstances, but rather that they make choices in the process of interacting with others and as a result, bring historically, culturally and politically distinct realities into being

Question 26

Explain the link between Constructivism and Social Cognition

Answer 26

The social meaning is a function of ‘what is going on in people’s heads’

Question 27

Explain the link between Constructivism and Social Facts

Answer 27

Most objects of international relations exist only by virtue of human acts of creation which happen in cultural, historical and political context of meaning, furthermore, they are known as ‘social facts’ that exist because of the meaning and value that has been attributed to them.

Question 28

Explain the link between Constructivism and Mutual Constitution

Answer 28

A social structure leaves more space for agency (for the individual or state to influence their environment as well as to be influenced by it) and this can be linked to the idea that relationships are a product of historical processes and interactions over time. Constructivists focus on the constitutive role of norms and share understandings, as well as the relationship between agency and structure; the subjects of international politics are not uniformly and universally rational egoists but have distinct identities shaped by the cultural, social and political circumstances in which they are embedded.

Question 29

Explain the link between Constructivism and Social Being

Answer 29

Constructivists question the ontology of rationalism and emphasis instead a social ontology (ontology = refers to the nature of being and focuses on the types of objects that world is composed of). As fundamentally social beings, individuals or states cannot be separated from a context of normative meaning which shapes who they are and the possibilities that are available to them. The relationship between the individual and the social structure is important but for Constructivists - they focus more on the norms and shared understandings of legitimate behaviour. Furthermore, their view pertains the idea that subjects of constructivism are guided by a logic of appropriateness which is the idea that ‘what is rational is a function of legitimacy, defined by share values and norms within institutions or other social structures rather than purely individual interests’.

Question 30

Why did Constructivism enjoy a rise in prominence?

Answer 30

(1) it demonstrated that the notion of a world without norms and ideas was not only nonsensical, but also that their inclusion was important for understanding the behaviour of states and non - state actors, and why they saw the world and themselves as they did
(2) it provided insight into the dissolution and creation of new regional and international orders

Question 31

What is Holism?

Answer 31

View that structures cannot be decomposed into the individual units and their interactions because structures are more than the sum of their parts and are irreducibly social. The effects of structures moreover, go beyond merely constraining the actors, but also construct them

Question 32

What are regulative rules?

Answer 32

regulate already existing activities

Question 33

What are constitutive rules?

Answer 33

Create the possibility for existing and further activities