Karteikarten
social constructivism
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- 1Chapter 10: Constructivism and gender theoryAnarchy is what states make of it.
~Alexander Wendt - 2The aims of this chapter are to: • outline alternative theoretical approaches to IR, namely Constructivism and gender theory • illustrate ways in which these approaches can be used to better understand international events and phenomena
- 3IntroductionMainstream
theories: The English School, Liberalism, Realism and Marxism
None provides
a complete picture of international affairs
Excludes certain
actors and interactions from their analysis, leaving parts of reality
unexplored - 41991, when all of IR’s mainstream theories failed to predict the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War bipolarity Failure to predict the end of the Cold War opened space for alternative ways of looking at IR; Social Constructivism, Post-structuralism and gender theoryEach questions some of the basic assumptions
that define mainstream theories
Social Constructivism: questions the materialism of Liberal Institutionalism, Realism and Marxism by
focusing on the role of ideas in IR
Post-structuralism: throws doubt
on fundamental assumptions such as the central role played by states
in international relations
Gender theory:
uncovers the privileged position given to masculinity in all mainstream
models of IR, particularly in the field of security and war - 5Social Constructivism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYU9UfkV_XIQuestions the bases of international society
It emphasises the role of ideas in IR
States faced with the same international environment may act in very different ways - 6Realists VS Liberals International arena is defined by structural anarchy Use rational choice to conclude that states will respond to this anarchy in specific ways Realists: security dilemma Liberals: build strong regimes to address their shared problemsConstructivists asks why these two theories arrive at such opposite conclusions about
state behaviour when they begin with the same premise:
international anarchy
If states are rational actors with set interests they should always act in a predictable way
Historically,
however, states have responded to the world in very different ways - 7Concludes that you cannot understand the world as a set of clearly defined cause-and-effect relationships One cause can have many different effects, depending on how it is perceived Anarchic structure elicits different responses from different statesThey see international society as a product of the social construction of reality
Aspects of IR like anarchy, sovereignty, regimes and the security dilemma are products of human action
Social facts depend on human interactions to make them real - 8Humans create and reproduce the societies they inhabit, and can choose to change them if their perception of reality changes Alternatives exist for both realists and liberals International anarchy can manifest itself as a Realist world of conflicting states, as a Liberal world of cooperating states, or as some other form of society altogetherThe way states define their national interest within
an anarchical society is not dictated by the structures they inhabit
It is
socially constructed by their perceptions of the world in which they live - 9Social Constructivism claims: 1. There is a link between identity and national interest states’ interests are derived from the way they perceive themselves and those around them core values: define what the state considers important and will affect the way it perceives other actors in international societyState perceives its neighbour as sharing values similar to its own = more likely to pursue a peaceful and cooperative relationship
State views its neighbour as radically different = relationship is likely to be
competitive or conflictual - 10—
- 112. Regulative rules and constitutive rules, which shape actors’ behaviour and identity If a group of states construct a set of rules that reward competition or conflict, their interactions will resemble those predicted by Realism, e.g. WWI If states construct a set of rules that reward cooperation, their international society will resemble Liberal InstitutionalismSates are free to select the rules that best suit their perceptions of the world around them
3. Actors’ perceptions of
what is good and normal tend to become ingrained in international society
over time as part of the life cycle of norms - 12One important application of Social Constructivism to problems in IR is securitisation Concept formulated by a group of scholars known as the Copenhagen School (Buzan, Waeaver) Securitisation theory highlights the way that we often use the language of ‘security’ to emphasise the importance of some issues over othersWar is a good example of how language can be used to justify a
state’s use of extraordinary methods to pursue its national interest
e.g. ‘war on terror’, the ‘war on drugs’
and the ‘war on poverty'
Making these issues into matters of security helps a state mobilise public support and suppress opposition
It can also militarise an issue, a step that can actually get in the
way of effective problem solving - 13Was it useful for the USA to declare a war on terror after 9/11, or should they have pursued Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda through established criminal procedures?
- 14Gender theoryHighlights the influence of ‘gendered’ thinking on
human ideas and behaviour
there is a difference between sex and gender
Sex refers to
physical differences between men and women. Gender is something quite
different. It refers to socially constructed ideas about what is ‘masculine’
and what is ‘feminine’
- 15Masculinity has long been associated with a set of idealised values including bravery, strength and leadership Feminine virtues include tenderness, kindness and empathy Negative attributes such as masculine cruelty and feminine weaknessGender has provided a basis for the widespread exclusion
and marginalisation of women from positions of political and military
leadership
War and politics
have long been associated with ‘masculine’ values
Resulted in widespread
patriarchy – rule by men – in which women have been pushed into
secondary roles - 16Feminism emerged as a result of this relegation For some, a key concern is the unjustified exclusion of women from traditionally ‘masculine’ areas The goal of these Liberal Feminists is a world in which women are as free as men to pursue jobsRadical gender theorists think the problem is not that women
do not have sufficient seniority in the current world system, but that the
present international system – fixated on war, conflict, balances of power
and so on – embodies the dominance of idealised masculine values
Their
goal is not to join the patriarchy. It is to overthrow it - 17Gender theory’s analysis of IR focuses on the often hidden role played by women in conflict Men engage in the most public and obvious aspects of war: bearing weapons, wearing uniforms and engaging directly in conflict Women, meanwhile, tend to play a supporting role in times of conflict: producing the soldiers of the future, maintaining life at home while their men fight, and representing ‘something to be protected’ in the minds of those at the frontWomen have often suffered as badly as men, experiencing
systematic abuse at the hands of enemy troops as well as their own
countrymen
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- Karteikarten am social constructivism , erstellt von Amna Tamkin am 03/11/2017.
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