POL 1025 Chapter : Constructivism notes - Sept 29.docx
Document Summary
Constructivism is rooted in insights from social theory and the philosophy of knowledge: best understood as a set of wagers about the way that social life is put together. Rules and norms for both liberals and realists are regulative and pertain to behavior (what is permitted, what is prohibited). Whereas for constructivists, rules and norms are also constitutive in that they specify not just what an actor can do but what kind of actor that actor actually is. Some rules and norms are so well established that constructivists call them international institutions". The key point for constructivists is that self-help and power politics are institutions, not essential features of anarchy. In the social space between states you have international law, state identities, and many other self-other relationships. War is a social institution: comprises rules, laws, and norms, we have laws that govern war (geneva conventions, we have practices, protocols, and codes about how war is supposed to be prosecuted.
