Constructivism

 Human behaviour is shaped by identity.

Identity itself is formed by society’s values, history, practices, and institutions.
 Constructivists believe that all institutions, including the state, are socially constructed
(made by society, not naturally given).
 Major proponents:
o Nicholas Onuf – he coined the term constructivism.
o Alexander Wendt – famous for the idea “Anarchy is what states make of it.”

Rise of Constructivism
 Constructivism became important in International Relations (IR) after the end of the
Cold War.
 Traditional theories like realism and liberalism failed to properly explain the end of the
Cold War.
 These theories believe that:
o States are self-interested.
o States always compete for power.
o International politics is shaped by unequal power distribution.
 Traditional theories focus too much on the state, and they ignore the role of individuals.
 In reality, the actions of ordinary people played a major role in ending the Cold War,
not just states or international organisations.
 Constructivism explains this by arguing that the social world is created by humans
(Onuf, 1989).
 Powerful actors like leaders and influential citizens continuously shape and reshape
international relations through their actions and interactions.

Major Assumptions of Constructivism

1. Ideas matter in IR as much as, or even more than, material factors like military power,
money, and the economy.
Threats are not fixed; they are constructed through perception and interpretation.
2. Anarchy is an institution.
It can change, it has changed, and it influences states differently over time.
3. States exist in societies, just like people, and are influenced by rules, norms, and
practices.
4. States have identities that are self-constructed and imagined.
Seeing another state as an ally or enemy shapes behaviour.
5. There is no single objective reality.
Even if one existed, humans could not fully know it.
6. A non-normative study of IR is impossible.
There is no clear separation between facts (what is) and values (what ought to be).
Basics of Constructivism
 Constructivism believes that the world and our knowledge of it are socially
constructed.
 This relates to:
o Ontology – the nature of reality.
o Epistemology – the nature of knowledge.
 Alexander Wendt (1995) gives a famous example:
o 500 British nuclear weapons are less threatening to the US than 5 North
Korean nuclear weapons.
 This difference is not because of weapons themselves, but because of the meaning
given to them.
 The US sees Britain as a friend and North Korea as an enemy.
 This shared understanding (called intersubjectivity) shapes state behaviour.
 Material things like nuclear weapons have no meaning without social context.
 Reality is always under construction, so change is always possible.
 Meanings are not fixed; they change with ideas and beliefs.

Agency and Structure

 Constructivists believe agency and structure shape each other.
 Agency: the ability of actors (states, leaders) to act.
 Structure: the international system, made of material and ideas.
 Example:
o The US–North Korea rivalry is a shared idea of enmity (structure).
o Both states can change or reinforce this relationship through their actions.
 If beliefs change, enmity can turn into friendship.
 This is different from realism, which says anarchy forces states to behave in one way.
 Constructivists say: “Anarchy is what states make of it.”

Identity and Interests

 States can have multiple identities formed through interaction.
 Identity answers the question: “Who am I?”
 Identity shapes interests, and interests shape actions.
 Example:
o A small state focuses more on survival.
o A big state focuses more on global influence.
 A state cannot act against its identity, or its identity loses meaning.
 Example:
o Germany did not become a military power after WWII.
o Due to Nazi atrocities, Germany’s identity shifted from militarism to pacifism.

Social Norms
  Norms are standards of appropriate behaviour for actors with a certain identity
(Katzenstein, 1996).
 States are expected to follow norms linked to their identity.
 This is called the logic of appropriateness:
o States act in certain ways because they believe it is right, not just beneficial.

Types of Norms

1. Regulative norms – control and limit behaviour.

2. Constitutive norms – create new actors, interests, or actions.
3. Prescriptive norms – define what is considered good or acceptable behaviour.

 Norms follow a life cycle before becoming widely accepted.

 A norm becomes normal behaviour when a critical mass of states adopts and
internalises it.
 Example:
o Climate change policies exist because many states believe it is the right thing for
human survival.
 Liberals may focus on economic growth and innovation.
 Realists may reject climate norms due to national interest concerns.

Types of Constructivism
 Conventional constructivists ask “what” questions:
o What causes actors to behave in certain ways?
o How do identities influence actions?
 Critical constructivists ask “how” questions:
o How are identities created?
o How language and communication shape reality?
 Language is very important because it constructs and changes social reality.
 Most constructivists lie between these two approaches.

Demise of the Soviet Union

 Many scholars believe the Soviet Union collapsed because Gorbachev stopped seeing
the US as an enemy.
 He viewed anti-communist movements in Eastern Europe as non-threatening.
 He convinced Soviet leadership to accept this view.
 He created an “anarchy of friends.”
 When the US and USSR decided they were no longer enemies, the Cold War ended.
 However, anarchy did not disappear completely because new threats to US power
emerged.

Different Forms of Anarchy

Constructivists believe we live in multiple realities, such as:

 Anarchy of friends – trust, cooperation, reciprocity.

 Anarchy of enemies – distrust, threats, conflict.
 Mixed anarchy – partial trust, cooperation, and negotiation.

Below is your same content, same headings, same sequence, and same points, rewritten in
very simple and clear English.
Nothing is removed or added — only language is simplified, exactly as you asked.

Marxism
 Karl Marx belonged to 19th-century Europe, the time of industrial capitalism.
 The negative effects of capitalism were clearly visible in that era:
1. Very poor condition of the working class
2. Extreme exploitation of workers
3. Widespread poverty
4. Huge economic inequalities
 Marx wanted to understand society because he wanted to change it.
 Marx believed that to change the present, one must understand the past.
 He tried to find patterns in past and present to predict the future.
 Marx believed that there is an identifiable law that explains the development of society.
 All social phenomena follow a specific law.
 Marx developed a theory of history called Historical Materialism or Dialectical
Materialism (also called the materialist conception of history).
 Marx took the idea of dialectics from Hegel.
 Hegel explained change through ideas, but Marx rejected this and explained historical
change through material and economic conditions.
This approach is called Dialectical Materialism.

Famous Quotes of Karl Marx

 “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to
change it.”
 “The class which has the most power in society controls the ideas of society.”

Two Approaches Toward History

1. Idealist Approach

 Ideas are real.

 Concepts are real.
 Material world is a reflection of ideas.
 Ideas create reality.
 Hegel is an idealist.

2. Materialist Approach

 Material conditions are real.

 Ideas are a reflection of the material world.
 Material world creates ideas.
 Marx is a materialist.

Dialectical Materialism
 There is a fixed pattern of change in all societies called dialectical materialism.
 Philosophers explain history using two approaches:
o Idealist
o Materialist
 Hegel’s view:
o History is a conflict between ideas.
o Conflict between ideas creates a new idea.

Dialectics

 A theory that explains change.

 Progress and development come from conflict and contradiction.

Stages of Dialectics

Thesis (Stage A)

 Existing situation (status quo)

 Has limitations

Anti-Thesis (Stage B)

 Reaction against thesis

 Also has limitations
Synthesis (Stage C)

 Fewer contradictions
 Fewer limitations
 For Hegel:
o Each stage represents an idea.
o Ideas drive history.
 For Marx:
o Each stage represents a class.
o Classes come from economic conditions.
o Material factors drive history.

Marx’s View of History

 History is the story of human labor and struggle.
 History is nothing but class struggle.
 “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle.” (Marx)
 History is a struggle between classes over economic interests and resources.

Stages of Society
Primitive Communism

 Classless society
 Stateless society

Slave Society

 Master
 Slave

Feudal Society

 Lord
 Serf

Capitalist Society

 Bourgeoisie
 Proletariat
Economic Determinism
 Marx is an economic determinist.
 He explains everything through economics and material conditions.

Origin of Classes
 “Before men do anything else, they must first produce the means of their subsistence.”
 The most basic human activity is material production:
o Food we eat
o Clothes we wear
o House we live in
 To produce material goods, two things are needed:

1. Forces of Production

 Tools
 Raw material
 Industries

2. Relations of Production

 Relationship with production

 Who owns it
 Who does not own it
 Owners → Dominant Class
 Non-owners → Subservient Class

Class Structure
 Dominant class = Haves
 Subservient class = Have-nots
 Dominant class is always a minority.
 Subservient class is always a majority.
 Then how does a minority rule the majority?
 Marx explained that:
o Dominant class controls force (police, law).
o Dominant class controls the state.
 o Dominant class controls ideas.
 By using force + ideas, they exploit the subordinate class.
 The state exists to protect the interests of the capitalist class.
 Material base creates ideological superstructures like:
o Culture
o Family
o State
o Institutions

Marxism: Basic Principles

1. Dialectical & Historical Materialism

 Marx borrowed dialectics from Hegel.

 Hegel explained history through ideas.
 Marx explained history through material conditions.
 Changes in economic base lead to changes in superstructure.
 Class struggle exists in every mode of production.

2. Exploitative Nature of Capitalism

 Capitalists own means of production.

 Workers sell labor.
 Profit is surplus value taken from labor.
 Workers live at subsistence level.
 Capitalist ideas dominate society.

3. Vision of Communist Society

 Capitalism will force workers to revolt.

 Socialism → Communism.
 No private property.
 No wage labor.
 Classless society.
 From each according to ability, to each according to need.

4. State as Instrument of Exploitation

 State protects capitalist interests.

 Uses force to suppress workers.
Marxism in International Relations (IR)
 International system is a capitalist world system.
 Main actor is class, not state.
 States, MNCs, IMF, World Bank, UN, WTO represent capitalist interests.
 Global system is divided into:
o Core
o Periphery
o Semi-periphery
 IR reflects global economic structure, not power politics.
 Colonialism & imperialism were capitalist expansion.
 Globalization is new capitalist imperialism.
 Dominant states use hegemony and soft power to spread ideas.

Four Strands of Marxism

1. World System & Dependency Theory
2. Critical Theory
3. Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony
4. Neo-Marxism

World System Theory – Immanuel Wallerstein

Core

 Developed
 Rich
 Militarily strong
 Controls global economy

Periphery

 Poor
 Export raw material
 Weak
 Exploited

Semi-Periphery

 Middle income
  Both exploit and exploited
 Structure changes over time.
 Originated in Europe (15th–16th century).

Dependency Theory – Andre Gunder Frank

 Explains underdevelopment of Asia, Africa, Latin America.
 Opposes modernization theory.
 Underdevelopment caused by external factors.
 Integration into capitalism leads to exploitation, not development.

Exploitation

Direct

 Unequal trade
 Raw material exports
 Low wages

Indirect

 Surplus extracted
 No local investment

Criticism

 NICs (South Korea, Taiwan, etc.) disproved total dependency.

Significance

 Shows global inequality.

 Core-periphery vocabulary useful.
 Development and underdevelopment are linked.

Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony

 Hegemony = control through consent, not force.
 Ideas of dominant class accepted by society.
 Created through media, education, NGOs.
  In IR, dominant states control global culture and ideas.

Critical Theory – Robert Cox

 Knowledge is contextual.
 No separation of facts and values.
 Mainstream IR supports status quo.
 Hegemony maintained through consent.
 UK before, USA now.
 Dominant ideas: free trade, globalization, liberalization.

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