Constructivism and English School of thought presentation.

1. Constructivism and
the English School

2. Outline
• Constructivism
• Role of Ideas and Identities
• The English School
• Role of International Society

3. Constructivism
• Assumptions of Social Constructivism
• Anarchy, State-actors, Survival, Uncertainty, and Power
• AlexanderWendt (SocialTheory of Int. Politics)
• Big Difference with Realists and Liberals
• Material and Ideational factors interact
• Role of Ideas and Identity
• Highlight impact of discourse and practice
• Meaning of material factors depends on shared
experiences, practices, & knowledge
• Example: Nuclear Proliferation
• Prevalent discourse shapes identity, beliefs, and interests
• Realist /Liberal theories are self-fulfilling (natural state)
• Social Process matters
• Possibility of Systemic Change

4. Constructivism
• Change
• Possibility of change in IR
• Focus on ideas highlights how we construct basic building blocks
of IR
• Role of ideas makes prospects of conflict variable
• Anarchy not inevitable struggle
• Security dilemma does not always lead to competition
• “Anarchy is what states make of it”
• Structure of international politics is an artificial construct
• Examples of how ideas change state behavior
• Slavery
• POW
• War
• Responsibility to Protect/Humanitarian Intervention
• Globalization
• Climate Change

5. Constructivism
• Three Cultures of Anarchy
• Hobbesian (no hold barred power politics)
• All AgainstAll (every state a potential adversary)
• States discount the future (relative power matters)
• Elimination of unfit states
• States acclimated to a realist culture
• Lockean (security competition is more restrained)
• Sovereignty is Recognized (shared expectation)
• Less concern for relative gains (build power over time)
• Warfare is accepted but constrained
• Kantian (Cooperation is endemic)
• States recognize two simple rules:
• Disputes settled without war or threat of war
• Threatened states will be defended by all
• Collective Security System

6. Constructivism:Video Discussion
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYU9UfkV_XI&ab_c
hannel=SoomoPublishing
• Key Question:What are examples of how discourse
changes the way we discuss international political issues?
• Refugees and Immigration
• Globalization
• Colonialism

7. The English School
• Role of International Society
• Hedley Bull (The Anarchical Society)
• Background: (European Perspective on IR?)
• Assumptions
• Same as realists: anarchy, states, survival, uncertainty*,
and power*
• Similar to some constructivists: nature of int. politics
• Hobbesian – struggle between states
• Kantian – moral imperatives and cosmopolitan society
• Grotian – struggle between states limited by common rules and institutions
• English School focus on collective social process associated
with international society
• International Society influences order that shapes and constrains state
behavior
• Emphasis on role of transnational actors and ideas

8. The English School and International
Society
• Logic
• Perspective places great importance on order
• Anarchy present but lack of hierarchy does not lead to a lack of order
• System of states has inherent rules/norms
• Could be cooperative or antagonistic
• Impact of State System
• International System is “System of States”
• System of States Makes International Society Possible
• International Society Shapes Order of System
• Order is a by-product of social interaction
• System is more than material aspects of anarchy
• Social Construct – based on common understandings, rules, norms, and
expectations

9. Three International Societies
• Christian International Society (1400 – 1700)
• Shared values based on sectarian beliefs
• Membership of society is not definitive
• Natural law over positivist law (moral imperatives)
• Violence is purview of many
• European International Society (1700 – 1900)
• Shared values based on geography and politics
• Membership in society confined to nation-states
• Positivist law over natural law (state practices)
• States have the monopoly on the use of force
• World International Society (1900 – Present?)
• Shared values based on modernity
• Membership primarily states, other actors possible
• Specific norms are inherent and supersede state practices
• States have monopoly but violence is limited
• Formal international institutions are given prominence

10. Perspectives of
English School
• International Institutions
• Reflect long-term practices between state-actors
• Balance of Power, Int. Law, Diplomacy, andWar
• Survival
• Collective vs. Individual
• System’s survival takes precedence over states
• War is not just a struggle for power to survive
• War is necessary to maintain order of int. society
• Power
• Defined as a social, not material attribute
• Power expressed in normative terms
• Legitimacy, Prestige, orAuthority
• Balance of Power is subjective
• Conscious and Constant Shared Practice (not static)

11. English School Discussion Questions
• What might be an example of international society
operating in the international system?
• “InternationalCommunity”
• Leader of the “FreeWorld”
• “Rogue States”
• “Work to build a community with a shared future for mankind”
• Key Issues
• The nature of the international system reflects an accepted
underlying collective social process that defines the interaction
between different actors regardless if they support the current
configuration of international society.
• A key question is whether the continued ascendance of non-
state actors leads to a fundamental reordering of international
society.