Social Constructivism

Theory of IR
 Introduction
• Constructivism’s arrival in IR is often associated with the end
of the Cold War, an event that the traditional theories such as
realism and liberalism failed to account for.
• This failure can be linked to some of their core tenets, such as
the conviction that states are self-interested actors who
compete for power and the unequal power distribution among
states which defines the balance of power between them.
 Introduction
• By having a dominant focus on the state, traditional theories have
not opened much space to observe the agency of individuals.
• After all, it was the actions of ordinary people that ensured the end
of the Cold War, not those of states or international organisations.
• Constructivism accounts for this issue by arguing that the social
world is of our making.
• Actors (usually powerful ones, like leaders and influential citizens)
continually shape – and sometimes reshape – the very nature of
international relations through their actions and interactions.
 The basics of constructivism

• Constructivism sees the world, and what we can know about

the world, as socially constructed.
• Alexander Wendt (1995) offers an excellent example that
illustrates the social construction of reality when he explains
that 500 British nuclear weapons are less threatening to the
United States than five North Korean nuclear weapons.
• These identifications are not caused by the nuclear weapons
(the material structure) but rather by the meaning given to the
material structure (the ideational structure).
 The basics of constructivism

• It is important to understand that the social relationship

between the United States and Britain and the United States
and North Korea is perceived in a similar way by these states,
as this shared understanding (or intersubjectivity) forms the
basis of their interactions.
• The example also shows that nuclear weapons by themselves
do not have any meaning unless we understand the social
context.
 The basics of constructivism

• It further demonstrates that constructivists go beyond the

material reality by including the effect of ideas and beliefs on
world politics.
• This also entails that reality is always under construction,
which opens the prospect for change.
• In other words, meanings are not fixed but can change over
time depending on the ideas and beliefs that actors hold.
 The basics of constructivism

• Constructivists argue that agency and structure are mutually

constituted, which implies that structures influence agency
and that agency influences structures.
• Agency can be understood as the ability of someone to act,
whereas structure refers to the international system that
consists of material and ideational elements.
 The basics of constructivism

• Returning to Wendt’s example discussed above,

• this means that the social relation of enmity between the
United States and North Korea represents the intersubjective
structure (that is, the shared ideas and beliefs among both
states),
• whereas the United States and North Korea are the actors
who have the capacity (that is, agency) to change or reinforce
the existing structure or social relationship of enmity.
 The basics of constructivism

• This change or reinforcement ultimately depends on the

beliefs and ideas held by both states.
• If these beliefs and ideas change, the social relationship can
change to one of friendship.
• This stance differs considerably from that of realists, who
argue that the anarchic structure of the international system
determines the behaviour of states.
 The basics of constructivism

• Constructivists, on the other hand, argue that ‘anarchy is

what states make of it’.
• This means that anarchy can be interpreted in different ways
depending on the meaning that actors assign to it.
• Another central issue to constructivism is identities and
interests.
 The basics of constructivism

• Constructivists argue that states can have multiple identities

that are socially constructed through interaction with other
actors.
• Identities are representations of an actor’s understanding of
who they are, which in turn signals their interests.
• They are important to constructivists as they argue that
identities constitute interests and actions.
 The basics of constructivism

• For example, the identity of a small state implies a set of

interests that are different from those implied by the identity
of a large state.
• The small state is arguably more focused on its survival,
whereas the large state is concerned with dominating global
political, economic and military affairs.
• It should be noted, though, that the actions of a state should
be aligned with its identity.
 The basics of constructivism

• A state can thus not act contrary to its identity because this
will call into question the validity of the identity, including its
preferences.
• This issue might explain why Germany, despite being a great
power with a leading global economy, did not become a
military power in the second half of the twentieth century.
 The basics of constructivism

• Following the atrocities of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime during

the Second World War, German political identity shifted from
one of militarism to pacifism due to unique historical
circumstances.
 The basics of constructivism

• Social norms are also central to constructivism.

• These are generally defined as ‘a standard of appropriate
behaviour for actors with a given identity’.
• States that conform to a certain identity are expected to
comply with the norms that are associated with that identity.
• This idea comes with an expectation that some kinds of
behaviour and action are more acceptable than others.
 The basics of constructivism

• This process is also known as ‘the logic of appropriateness’,

where actors behave in certain ways because they believe that
this behaviour is appropriate.
• To better understand norms, we can identify three types:
regulative norms, constitutive norms and prescriptive norms.
• Regulative norms order and constrain behaviour; constitutive
norms create new actors, interests or categories of action; and
prescriptive norms prescribe certain norms, meaning there are
no bad norms from the perspective of those who promote them.
 The basics of constructivism

• It is also important to note that norms go through a ‘lifecycle

of norms’ before they can get accepted.
• A norm only becomes an expected behaviour when a critical
mass of relevant state actors adopt it and internalise it in their
own practices.
• For example, constructivists would argue that the bulk of
states have come together to develop climate change
mitigation policies because it is the right thing to do for the
survival of humanity.
 The basics of constructivism

• This has, over decades of diplomacy and advocacy, become

an appropriate behaviour that the bulk of citizens expect their
leaders to adhere to.
• Liberals, on the other hand, might reject the notion of climate
change politics in favour of continued economic growth and
pursuing innovative scientific solutions, while realists might
reject it due to the damage that climate policies may do to
shorter-term national interests.
 Kinds of constructivist
• Although all constructivists share the above-mentioned views
and concepts, there is considerable variety within
constructivism.
• Conventional constructivists ask ‘what’-type questions –
such as what causes an actor to act .
• They believe that it is possible to explain the world in causal
terms and are interested in discovering the relationships
between actors, social norms, interests and identities.
 Kinds of constructivist
• Conventional constructivists assume, for instance, that actors
act according to their identity and that it is possible to predict
when this identity becomes visible or not.
• When an identity is seen to be under- going changes,
conventional constructivists investigate what factors caused
which aspects of a state’s identity to change.
 Kinds of constructivist
• Critical constructivists, on the other hand, ask ‘how’-type
questions such as how do actors come to believe in a certain
identity .
• Contrary to conventional constructivists, they are not
interested in the effect that this identity has.
• Instead, critical constructivists want to reconstruct an identity
– that is, find out what are its component parts – which they
believe are created through written or spoken communication
among and between peoples.
 Kinds of constructivist
• Language plays a key role for critical constructivists because
it constructs, and has the ability to change, social reality
• Most constructivists, however, position themselves between
these two more extreme ends of the spectrum.