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COLLECTIVE IDENTITY FORMATION
AND THE INTERNATIONAL STATE
ALEXANDER WENDT, 1994
PRESENTED BY
AMIN SADEGHI
POL501 Theories of IR
Asst. Prof. Dr. İlksoy Aslım
MA International Relations
European University of Lefke
BIOGRAPHY
1958 Born
1989 Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Minnesota
89-97 Taught at Yale University
97-99 Taught at Dartmouth College
99-04 Taught at University of Chicago
04-present
Professor of International Security at Ohio State University
MAJOR WORKS
Year Title Citations
1987 The agent-structure problem in international relations theory 2470
1989 [PhD thesis] Institutions and International Order
1992 Anarchy is what states make of it 6596
1994 Collective identity formation and the international state 2360
1995 Constructing International Pollitics 1581
1998 On constitution and causation in international relations 574
1999 [B] Social Theory of International Politics 8944
1999 Social theory of international relations 548
2002 Rationalism v. constructivism: a skeptical view 924
2003 Why a world state is inevitable 838
2004 The state as person in international theory 478
2015 [B] Quantum Mind and Social Science Unifying Physical and
Social Ontology
CONSTRUCTIVISM ORIGINS
Name Contributions
Immanuel
Kant
Knowledge passes through human consciousness,
making the absorbed knowledge “subjective.”
Max Weber Sociological knowledge = subjective understanding
Anthony
Giddens
Structure-agency problem = [solution] Structuration:
Structures constrain actors, but actors have the ability of
thinking of and acting on them in new ways. [what
nowadays call: “changing the narrative”]
Jean Piaget
(1896 – 1980)
Clinical psychology, Child development, Genetic
epistemology
Lev Semyonovich
Vygotsky (1896 –
1943)
Sociocultural/Socio-historical development
John Dewey (1859 – 1952)
Jerome Seymour Bruner (1915 – 2016)
FAMOUS IR
CONSTRUCTIVISTS
Name Contributions
Nicholas
Onuf
"constructivism“; three types of rule
Peter J.
Katzenstein
Emanuel
Adler
Michael N.
Barnett
Security community
Kathryn
Sikkink
John Ruggie Norms, ideas, and identities in IR; Polanyi’s "embedded
liberalism"
Martha
Finnemore
DISTINCTIONS
1. Positivist approaches to IR e.g. neo-realism emphasize the
material role of international anarchy in structuring actor
(i.e. state) behaviour. For Constructivists: inter-subjective
beliefs.
2. Postmodernists also stress the importance of social
construction. Postmodernism: challenging the existence of
a ‘real world’; anti-foundationalist. Constructivism: an
objective social reality exists; a ‘third way’ between
positivism and post-positivism.
Sutch & Elias, 2007
CRITICISMS
• Three mistakes of Constructivists who came to prominence
in the 1990s according to Onuf:
1. Taking for granted that “a norm” is normative without
asking whether, to what degree, or how this might be so.
A mindless appropriation of functional sociology and utter
indifference to legal and political theory.
2. Substitution of identity (‘who am I?’ questions) for agency
(‘who acts for what or whom?’ questions) in guessing at
the implications of the end of the Cold War. (personal
identity > collective identity) >> (agency > imagined
collectivities).
3. Treating culture as an aggregate residual and then
assigned it enormous causal significance.
Nicholas Onuf, Theory-Talks.org, 2015
CONSTRUCTIVISM
1. “States are the principal units of analysis for international political theory.”
2. “The key structures in the
states system are
intersubjective*,
rather than material.” (Realism) [of security
and economics: both Realism and
Liberalism]
3. “State identities and
interests are .. [largely]
constructed by .. social
structures,
rather than given exogenously to the
system by human nature or domestic
politics.” (Rationalist, Systemic theories ->
1. Theories that purport to support interest
formation;
2. Unit-level, reductionist theories e.g.
Waltz, 1979: interests = exogenous).
* Intersubjective awareness = socially constructed beliefs;
a priori knowledge.
THE SELF: THE “I” AND THE “ME”
• According to Mead “the individual and his or her identity
develops out of interaction with others in the present and,
through culture, others of the past.”
• “For Mead, then, the self is a process … an interplay
between two poles … the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’”:
• The ‘Me’: definitions given by society e.g. man, son, doctor,
tall, ‘a bit of a lad.’
• The ‘I’: “the moving centre of all of these descriptions …
derived from others.”
• Source of impulse, energy, and reflection;
• Uniqueness of the individual; and
• The subject of our internal conversations.
The Problem of Sociology, Lee & Newby, pg 317-8, 1983 (2000)
SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED
STATES
• Me and I
• Corporate constitution of state actors
• Social constitution of state actors
CORPORATE IDENTITY
• Interests generated from corporate identity of states:
1. Physical security (includes differentiation)
2. Ontological security* (continuity/stability)
3. Recognition (vs. survival)
4. Development (collective level increase in quality of life)
• They provide motivational energy, but can’t be deemed as
self-interest (purely social phenomenon).
* a sense of order and continuity in regard to an
individual's experiences. (Giddens, 1991)
SOCIAL IDENTITIES
• Definition: “Sets of meanings that an actor attributes to itself
while taking the perspective of .. [other social objects]”
• Actors have multiple social identities with varying level of
importance.
• These identities fit into certain social roles, implying
shared/mutual understanding of those roles, as well as the
capabilities and responsibilities attached to them.
• State identities and interests stem from:
1. Domestic societies: “liberal;” “democratic.”
2. International societies: “hegemon;” “balancer.”
THE COLD WAR
• United States vs. USSR
• Both had “national security world-views;”
• Defined the self and the other;
• Had conflictual identities (conflictual vs. cooperative);
• National interests were subject to these structurally
constituted identities;
• Enmity (as a form of social relation) caused the United States
to resist Soviet influence. [Democracy vs. Socialism]
• Identities have degrees of stability
• Practices over time accomplish a stabilised identity
• Rationalism can only be expected from a stabilised identities
(verified through observation)
COLLECTIVE ACTION
• Collective action problems can be solved through the
establishment of collective interests:
• Interest spectrum: Self-interests ↔ Collective interests
• “Effects of the extent to which and manner in which social
identities involve an identification with the fate of the other”
• Identification continuum: Negative ↔ Positive
• conceiving the other as anathema to the self ↔
• conceiving it as an extension of the self
• Anathema ↔ Extension
• Variations of identification
• With another actor e.g. military defense
• With the planet e.g. protecting the environment
IDENTIFICATION CONTINUUM
Negative neutral Positive
Neorealist
claim
Neoliberal
claim
“States define their
interests in terms of
relative gains”
“Absolute gains
predominate”
• Both Neorealists and Neoliberals fail to touch on
positive identification
• “Interests [for them] are defined without
regard for the other;”
• Interests can be “manipulated for the
gratification of the self.”
COLLECTIVE
IDENTITY/INTEREST
• Collective identity: “positive identification with the welfare of
another, such that the other is seen as a cognitive extension
of the self, rather than independent.”
• Identification is rarely [100%]
• Interdependence between self and other is empathetic (vs.
instrumental/situational interdependence)
Empathetic
Interdependence
Feelings of solidarity,
community, and loyalty
Collective interest
THE INTERNATIONAL
STATE
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
INTRODUCTION
• Wendt acknowledges that his vocabulary has been
“sociological” (vs. “economic”)
• Wendt’s Rationalist assumption: states are agents that have
identities, interests, rationality, etc.
• However, he believes that the anarchy-hierarchy dichotomy
dominating IR is problematic.
• Alternatives suggested by others include:
1. Non-state-centric thinking (Ferguson and Mansbach 1991)
2. Emphasis on the mutability of state forms (Ruggie 1993b; R. Walker
1990)
Governance over a people or space(Benjamin and Duvall 1985; Katzenstein 1990) I
i.e. Westphalian sovereignty: state agents and authority
structures did coincide spatially.
i.e. political authority that is international and decentralised (Ruggie
1983b; Pasic 1993)
i.e. “international states” (Robert Cox 1987)
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
INTERNATIONALISATION
Wendt uses Ruggie’s concept of authority (Ruggie 1983b) and
tries to apply it towards the internationalisation of the state:
The concept of authority Internationalisation of the state
Legitimacy (or shared purpose) Identification with respect to some state
function (military security/ economic
growth/etc.).
Coercion (or enforcement) A collective capacity to sanction actors
who disrupt the performance of that
function.
Such an approach, he argues, would cause:
The institutionalisation of collective action
• Normal/routine that certain problems are handled on an
international basis.
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
COLLECTIVE ACTION
In its institutionalised form, collective action would ‘probably’
create certain expectations :
• Certain behaviours (norms, rules, principles, etc.)
• Collective policies are routinely discussed
• Interorganisational networks. (Geser 1992; Hopkins 1978)
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
COLLECTIVE SECURITY
• The provision of security (territorial monopoly on organized
violence) is a key function of the state.
• If not rivals & engage in institutionalized collective action > then
"Monopoly" here may denote control by multiple actors.
• A collective security system > transnational space
• E.g. NATO & European Community states > internationalize
internal security as well;
• Feature: high degree of legitimacy among its members;
• Feature: may force [binding] policies;
• Feature: weak members participate in decision-makings
• The shortcomings of NATO are justified for the
internationalisation of political authority is still in progress.
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
COLLECTIVE ECONOMY
• The provision of an institutional production framework is
another function/[service] of the state > also in the process of
internationalisation.
• In the past capitalism was a territorial phenomenon > now
states have a network of regimes:
• A trade regime: to govern the flow of goods and services;
• A monetary regime: to govern the value of transactions;
• A “capital regime”: to govern property rights and capital flows.
(Duvall and Wendt 1987)
• These [new] regimes, not only affect the prices of certain
behaviours, but they also embody a degree of collective
identity (“embedded liberalism”).
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
IMPLICATIONS FOR IR (1)
1. Gradually transforms the structure of the Westphalian states
system (Anarchy > Authority).
 a "disarticulated" sovereignty in which different state functions
are performed at different levels of aggregation. (Pogge 1992) [Thomas
W. Pogge: a follower of John Rawls’s global/international justice theory]
 a "neo-Medievalism" in which political authority is shared by
both state and nonstate actors. (Bull 1977) [Hedley Bull: Prominent scholar of
English School of IR]
 In both cases the state stays, however with lesser sovereignty;
sovereignty is not the intrinsic feature of state agency
anymore, but of social identity.
 Sovereignty of the state is transferred upwards to realise the
capacity of strengthened collective problem-solving.
THE INTERNATIONAL STATE:
IMPLICATIONS FOR IR (2)
2. Calls into question the premises of contemporary
democratic governance.
 Westphalian approach to sovereignty allowed democratic and
international relations theorists to ignore each other.
 Democratic theorists: concerned with making state power
democratically accountable.
 IR theorists: concerned with interstate relations.
 International democracy is a problem that can be solved through
the creation of collective identities.
 The creation of collective identities itself poses an entirely new
problem of making those identities democratically accountable.
(Linklater 1990; Wolfe 1992)
 Wendt suggest democratic and international relations theorists
to work together on this issue.
CONCLUSION
• According to Wendt, state-centric systemic international
relations theory cannot explain structural change not because
of statism but for two other commitments:
1. Realilsm: for its essence is materialism, structural change
means distribution of material power, thus shifts in polarity.
• Authority, however, is an intersubjective concept, and its
internationalization can elude materialist theory.
2. Rationalism: identities and interests that constitute games are
exogenous and constant.
• The usefulness of rationality does not include explanations for
identities and interests, which are key in determining structural
change.
References
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford,
California: Stanford University Press.
Lee, D., & Newby, H. (1983). The Problem of Sociology. Routledge.
Onuf, N. (2015, July 2). Nicholas Onuf on the Evolution of Social Constructivsm, Turns in IR, and a
Discipline of Our Making. Retrieved 12 11, 2017, from Theory Talks: http://www.theory-
talks.org/2015/07/theory-talk-70.html
Sutch, P., & Elias, J. (2007). International relations: the basics. Routledge.
Wendt, A. (1994). Collective Identity Formation and the International State. American Political
Science Review, 88(2), 384-396.
Useful links
Alexander Wendt Timeline: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/alexander-wendt

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Collective Identity Formation and The International State

  • 1. COLLECTIVE IDENTITY FORMATION AND THE INTERNATIONAL STATE ALEXANDER WENDT, 1994 PRESENTED BY AMIN SADEGHI POL501 Theories of IR Asst. Prof. Dr. İlksoy Aslım MA International Relations European University of Lefke
  • 2. BIOGRAPHY 1958 Born 1989 Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Minnesota 89-97 Taught at Yale University 97-99 Taught at Dartmouth College 99-04 Taught at University of Chicago 04-present Professor of International Security at Ohio State University
  • 3. MAJOR WORKS Year Title Citations 1987 The agent-structure problem in international relations theory 2470 1989 [PhD thesis] Institutions and International Order 1992 Anarchy is what states make of it 6596 1994 Collective identity formation and the international state 2360 1995 Constructing International Pollitics 1581 1998 On constitution and causation in international relations 574 1999 [B] Social Theory of International Politics 8944 1999 Social theory of international relations 548 2002 Rationalism v. constructivism: a skeptical view 924 2003 Why a world state is inevitable 838 2004 The state as person in international theory 478 2015 [B] Quantum Mind and Social Science Unifying Physical and Social Ontology
  • 4. CONSTRUCTIVISM ORIGINS Name Contributions Immanuel Kant Knowledge passes through human consciousness, making the absorbed knowledge “subjective.” Max Weber Sociological knowledge = subjective understanding Anthony Giddens Structure-agency problem = [solution] Structuration: Structures constrain actors, but actors have the ability of thinking of and acting on them in new ways. [what nowadays call: “changing the narrative”] Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) Clinical psychology, Child development, Genetic epistemology Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896 – 1943) Sociocultural/Socio-historical development John Dewey (1859 – 1952) Jerome Seymour Bruner (1915 – 2016)
  • 5. FAMOUS IR CONSTRUCTIVISTS Name Contributions Nicholas Onuf "constructivism“; three types of rule Peter J. Katzenstein Emanuel Adler Michael N. Barnett Security community Kathryn Sikkink John Ruggie Norms, ideas, and identities in IR; Polanyi’s "embedded liberalism" Martha Finnemore
  • 6. DISTINCTIONS 1. Positivist approaches to IR e.g. neo-realism emphasize the material role of international anarchy in structuring actor (i.e. state) behaviour. For Constructivists: inter-subjective beliefs. 2. Postmodernists also stress the importance of social construction. Postmodernism: challenging the existence of a ‘real world’; anti-foundationalist. Constructivism: an objective social reality exists; a ‘third way’ between positivism and post-positivism. Sutch & Elias, 2007
  • 7. CRITICISMS • Three mistakes of Constructivists who came to prominence in the 1990s according to Onuf: 1. Taking for granted that “a norm” is normative without asking whether, to what degree, or how this might be so. A mindless appropriation of functional sociology and utter indifference to legal and political theory. 2. Substitution of identity (‘who am I?’ questions) for agency (‘who acts for what or whom?’ questions) in guessing at the implications of the end of the Cold War. (personal identity > collective identity) >> (agency > imagined collectivities). 3. Treating culture as an aggregate residual and then assigned it enormous causal significance. Nicholas Onuf, Theory-Talks.org, 2015
  • 8. CONSTRUCTIVISM 1. “States are the principal units of analysis for international political theory.” 2. “The key structures in the states system are intersubjective*, rather than material.” (Realism) [of security and economics: both Realism and Liberalism] 3. “State identities and interests are .. [largely] constructed by .. social structures, rather than given exogenously to the system by human nature or domestic politics.” (Rationalist, Systemic theories -> 1. Theories that purport to support interest formation; 2. Unit-level, reductionist theories e.g. Waltz, 1979: interests = exogenous). * Intersubjective awareness = socially constructed beliefs; a priori knowledge.
  • 9. THE SELF: THE “I” AND THE “ME” • According to Mead “the individual and his or her identity develops out of interaction with others in the present and, through culture, others of the past.” • “For Mead, then, the self is a process … an interplay between two poles … the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’”: • The ‘Me’: definitions given by society e.g. man, son, doctor, tall, ‘a bit of a lad.’ • The ‘I’: “the moving centre of all of these descriptions … derived from others.” • Source of impulse, energy, and reflection; • Uniqueness of the individual; and • The subject of our internal conversations. The Problem of Sociology, Lee & Newby, pg 317-8, 1983 (2000)
  • 10. SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED STATES • Me and I • Corporate constitution of state actors • Social constitution of state actors
  • 11. CORPORATE IDENTITY • Interests generated from corporate identity of states: 1. Physical security (includes differentiation) 2. Ontological security* (continuity/stability) 3. Recognition (vs. survival) 4. Development (collective level increase in quality of life) • They provide motivational energy, but can’t be deemed as self-interest (purely social phenomenon). * a sense of order and continuity in regard to an individual's experiences. (Giddens, 1991)
  • 12. SOCIAL IDENTITIES • Definition: “Sets of meanings that an actor attributes to itself while taking the perspective of .. [other social objects]” • Actors have multiple social identities with varying level of importance. • These identities fit into certain social roles, implying shared/mutual understanding of those roles, as well as the capabilities and responsibilities attached to them. • State identities and interests stem from: 1. Domestic societies: “liberal;” “democratic.” 2. International societies: “hegemon;” “balancer.”
  • 13. THE COLD WAR • United States vs. USSR • Both had “national security world-views;” • Defined the self and the other; • Had conflictual identities (conflictual vs. cooperative); • National interests were subject to these structurally constituted identities; • Enmity (as a form of social relation) caused the United States to resist Soviet influence. [Democracy vs. Socialism] • Identities have degrees of stability • Practices over time accomplish a stabilised identity • Rationalism can only be expected from a stabilised identities (verified through observation)
  • 14. COLLECTIVE ACTION • Collective action problems can be solved through the establishment of collective interests: • Interest spectrum: Self-interests ↔ Collective interests • “Effects of the extent to which and manner in which social identities involve an identification with the fate of the other” • Identification continuum: Negative ↔ Positive • conceiving the other as anathema to the self ↔ • conceiving it as an extension of the self • Anathema ↔ Extension • Variations of identification • With another actor e.g. military defense • With the planet e.g. protecting the environment
  • 15. IDENTIFICATION CONTINUUM Negative neutral Positive Neorealist claim Neoliberal claim “States define their interests in terms of relative gains” “Absolute gains predominate” • Both Neorealists and Neoliberals fail to touch on positive identification • “Interests [for them] are defined without regard for the other;” • Interests can be “manipulated for the gratification of the self.”
  • 16. COLLECTIVE IDENTITY/INTEREST • Collective identity: “positive identification with the welfare of another, such that the other is seen as a cognitive extension of the self, rather than independent.” • Identification is rarely [100%] • Interdependence between self and other is empathetic (vs. instrumental/situational interdependence) Empathetic Interdependence Feelings of solidarity, community, and loyalty Collective interest
  • 18. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: INTRODUCTION • Wendt acknowledges that his vocabulary has been “sociological” (vs. “economic”) • Wendt’s Rationalist assumption: states are agents that have identities, interests, rationality, etc. • However, he believes that the anarchy-hierarchy dichotomy dominating IR is problematic. • Alternatives suggested by others include: 1. Non-state-centric thinking (Ferguson and Mansbach 1991) 2. Emphasis on the mutability of state forms (Ruggie 1993b; R. Walker 1990) Governance over a people or space(Benjamin and Duvall 1985; Katzenstein 1990) I i.e. Westphalian sovereignty: state agents and authority structures did coincide spatially. i.e. political authority that is international and decentralised (Ruggie 1983b; Pasic 1993) i.e. “international states” (Robert Cox 1987)
  • 19. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: INTERNATIONALISATION Wendt uses Ruggie’s concept of authority (Ruggie 1983b) and tries to apply it towards the internationalisation of the state: The concept of authority Internationalisation of the state Legitimacy (or shared purpose) Identification with respect to some state function (military security/ economic growth/etc.). Coercion (or enforcement) A collective capacity to sanction actors who disrupt the performance of that function. Such an approach, he argues, would cause: The institutionalisation of collective action • Normal/routine that certain problems are handled on an international basis.
  • 20. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: COLLECTIVE ACTION In its institutionalised form, collective action would ‘probably’ create certain expectations : • Certain behaviours (norms, rules, principles, etc.) • Collective policies are routinely discussed • Interorganisational networks. (Geser 1992; Hopkins 1978)
  • 21. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: COLLECTIVE SECURITY • The provision of security (territorial monopoly on organized violence) is a key function of the state. • If not rivals & engage in institutionalized collective action > then "Monopoly" here may denote control by multiple actors. • A collective security system > transnational space • E.g. NATO & European Community states > internationalize internal security as well; • Feature: high degree of legitimacy among its members; • Feature: may force [binding] policies; • Feature: weak members participate in decision-makings • The shortcomings of NATO are justified for the internationalisation of political authority is still in progress.
  • 22. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: COLLECTIVE ECONOMY • The provision of an institutional production framework is another function/[service] of the state > also in the process of internationalisation. • In the past capitalism was a territorial phenomenon > now states have a network of regimes: • A trade regime: to govern the flow of goods and services; • A monetary regime: to govern the value of transactions; • A “capital regime”: to govern property rights and capital flows. (Duvall and Wendt 1987) • These [new] regimes, not only affect the prices of certain behaviours, but they also embody a degree of collective identity (“embedded liberalism”).
  • 23. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR IR (1) 1. Gradually transforms the structure of the Westphalian states system (Anarchy > Authority).  a "disarticulated" sovereignty in which different state functions are performed at different levels of aggregation. (Pogge 1992) [Thomas W. Pogge: a follower of John Rawls’s global/international justice theory]  a "neo-Medievalism" in which political authority is shared by both state and nonstate actors. (Bull 1977) [Hedley Bull: Prominent scholar of English School of IR]  In both cases the state stays, however with lesser sovereignty; sovereignty is not the intrinsic feature of state agency anymore, but of social identity.  Sovereignty of the state is transferred upwards to realise the capacity of strengthened collective problem-solving.
  • 24. THE INTERNATIONAL STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR IR (2) 2. Calls into question the premises of contemporary democratic governance.  Westphalian approach to sovereignty allowed democratic and international relations theorists to ignore each other.  Democratic theorists: concerned with making state power democratically accountable.  IR theorists: concerned with interstate relations.  International democracy is a problem that can be solved through the creation of collective identities.  The creation of collective identities itself poses an entirely new problem of making those identities democratically accountable. (Linklater 1990; Wolfe 1992)  Wendt suggest democratic and international relations theorists to work together on this issue.
  • 25. CONCLUSION • According to Wendt, state-centric systemic international relations theory cannot explain structural change not because of statism but for two other commitments: 1. Realilsm: for its essence is materialism, structural change means distribution of material power, thus shifts in polarity. • Authority, however, is an intersubjective concept, and its internationalization can elude materialist theory. 2. Rationalism: identities and interests that constitute games are exogenous and constant. • The usefulness of rationality does not include explanations for identities and interests, which are key in determining structural change.
  • 26. References Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Lee, D., & Newby, H. (1983). The Problem of Sociology. Routledge. Onuf, N. (2015, July 2). Nicholas Onuf on the Evolution of Social Constructivsm, Turns in IR, and a Discipline of Our Making. Retrieved 12 11, 2017, from Theory Talks: http://www.theory- talks.org/2015/07/theory-talk-70.html Sutch, P., & Elias, J. (2007). International relations: the basics. Routledge. Wendt, A. (1994). Collective Identity Formation and the International State. American Political Science Review, 88(2), 384-396. Useful links Alexander Wendt Timeline: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/alexander-wendt