POLS 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Empirical Evidence, Social Theory, Security Dilemma
24 Dec 2016
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The focus of social constructivism is on human awareness or consciousness and its place in world affairs. Most ir theory is materialist- focusing on (cid:498)things(cid:499) and specifically the distribution of material power. Such as military forces and economic capabilities, defines balances of power between states and explains the behaviour of states. Constructivists argue that the most important aspect of ir is social. Furthermore this social realty is not objective. Consequently, the study of ir must focus o the ideas and beliefs that inform the actors on the international scene as well as on the shared understanding between them. Before we can understand social constructivism, we first have to understand a little about ontology, epistemology and methodology. Ontology refers to how we view the world. How we see or understand the essence of things around us. If ontology is how we view the world, what is epistemology.
