CONSTRUCTIVISM :

 Neorealist think that states goal is peace, and neoliberalists think that wealth is their goal.
 Neorealism assumed that states must be consumed by security,power, and survival
 demonstrating that states cooperate extensively in order to further their interests
 all the states share individualism and materialism.
 While neorealism holds that interests trump ideas and norms, neoliberal institutionalism
recognizes that states might willingly construct norms and institutions to regulate their
behavior if doing so will enhance their long-term interests.
 Although both approaches allow for the possibility that ideas and norms can constrain how
states pursue their interests, neither contemplates the possibility that ideas and norms might
define their interests.
 Constructivism knew a rise in 1990s, because of:” drawing from sociological and critical
theories, during the 1980s dissidents began to make visible and significant certain key
elements—norms,ideas, identity, and rules.
 constructivists, argued that their inclusion is understanding the behaviour of
states and non-state actors and understanding why they saw the world and themselves as
they did.
 Second factor is: the end of the cold war. Most observers had predicted that the cold
war would end with a bang, not a whimper.”
 Constructivism offered a fresh take on the world at a time when the world needed new ways
of thinking.
 If neorealists and neoliberal institutionalists were the immediate losers from the end of the
cold war, the dissidents of the 1980s were the immediate winners
 Constructivism has benefited from the end of cold war ,speeding past critique
 They demonstrate how identity and norms shape state interests and must be incorporated
to generate superior explanations.
 The first generation of constructivists
 from these latter sorts of arguments, as they imagined a post-cold war world that had or
might develop a sense of community and unity of purpose because of shared norms,
interests, and outlooks

• Neorealism and neoliberal institutionalism dominated IR theory in the 1980s.

• Both theories ascribed to materialism and individualism.
• Various scholars critical of neorealism and neoliberalism drew from critical and sociological theory to
demonstrate the effects of ideas and norms on world politics.

• The end of the cold war created an intellectual space for scholars to challenge existing theories of
international politics.

• The first wave of constructivist thought tended to emphasize how international society could develop shared
identities, norms, and outlooks to create a stable order that even permitted some possibility of progress.

Constructivism :
  Constructivism is a social theory and not a substantive theory of international politics.
 Social theory concerns how to conceptualize the relationship between agents and structures.
 Substantive theory offers specific claims and hypotheses about patterns in world politics: for
instance, how do we explain why democratic states tend not to wage war
 Rational choice offers no claims about the actual patterns of world politics.
 To construct substantive claims,scholars must delineate the principal actors, their interests and
capacities, and the content of normative structures.
 ‘Constructivism is about human consciousness and its role in international life
 idealism and holism are the core of Constructivism
 idealism is taking seriously the role of ideas in world politics.
 Idealism does not reject material reality but instead observes that the meaning and
construction of that material reality is dependent on ideas and interpretation.
 holism allows for agency,recognizing that agents have some autonomy and their interactions
help to construct, reproduce, and transform those structures

 the social construction of reality elements:
 actors are produced and created by their cultural environment: nurture, not nature.”
the importance of identity and the social construction of interests.”
Another element is how knowledge—symbols, rules, concepts, and categories—
shapes how individuals construct and interpret their worlds.
 Social facts depend on human agreement and are taken for granted. Money,
refugees, terrorism, human rights, and sovereignty are social facts
 Constructivists often refer to background knowledge, scripts, and the taken-for-
granted nature of many aspects of our world.
 Rationalists speak of behavior,and Constructivists refer to practices
 Constructivists also are concerned with norms and rules.”they are not static”
 Constructivists’ claim that the world is not just material but also normative leads
them to contrast different kinds of world orders
 The legitimacy element: even great powers will frequently feel the need to alter
their policies in order to be viewed as legitimate—or bear the consequences
 The logic of consequences attributes action to the anticipated costs and benefits,
mindful that other actors are doing the same,
 The logic of appropriatenesshighlights how actors are rule-following, worrying
about whether their actions are legitimate.
 The logic of appropriateness highlights how actors are rule-following, worrying
about whether their actions are legitimate
 the more illegitimate a possible course of action appears to be, the higher the
potential cost for those who proceed on their own
 Constructivism study the origins of the social constructs that now appear to us as
natural and are part of our social vocabulary “knowing to the interplay between
existing ideas and institutions,”
 constructivists attempt to identify the meanings actors give to their practices and
the objects they construct”derived from culture.”
 • Contrary to rational choice theorists, constructivists talk about actors’ practices
rather than behaviour

Constructivism and global change :

Responsablilty of protection:changing the The Peace of Westphalia principals ,by exceeding
the non-interference principal

 • Institutional isomorphism: observes that organizations that share the same
environment will, over time, resemble each other.
  Changing understandings of what constitutes a legitimate international order is a
more reasonable explanation”of the failure of westephalian norms”
 diffusion concern how particular models, practices, norms, strategies, or beliefs
spread within a population.
 states look alike because they want acceptance, legitimacy, and status or because
states now realize that some institutions are just superior to others
 The spreed of Constructivism :
 great power imposition and strategic competition
States will also adop,t similar: First, states want resources,, Second, during periods of uncertainty
states are unsure of how to address existing challenges, and in response often adopt those models that
are perceived as successful or legitimate, Third, frequently states adopt particular
models because of their symbolic standing

• Diffusion occurs via coercion, strategic competition, pressures to secure resources,

mimicking of successful models, the symbolic standing of certain models, and
professional associations and expert communities
•
Socialization: explains:
• How states change so that they come to identify with the identities, interests,
and manners of the existing members of the club;
How states, accordingly, change their behavior so that it is consistent with that
of the group
The ‘life cycle of norms’
• Norms evolve through different stages:

1. Norm emergenceis often pushed by norm

entrepreneurs, who frame issues in ways that
promote their ideas
2. A norm cascadeoccurs as the norm diffuses, often
because of pressure for conformity, desire for
international legitimacy, or leaders’ quests for
enhanced self-esteem
3. Norm internalizationmeans that the norm is
taken for granted and is no longer contested