In
respect of International Relations the term Constructivism refers to the idea
that international system is socially constructed so is the history; the global
political situation is manmade rather than natural. So the construction of
international relations can be changed with newly shared ideas. There are
number of socialists/philosophers pronounced this term but the best known
advocate of the term “Constructivism” is Alexander Wendt.
In
1992 in his article “Anarchy is what states make of it: the
social construction of power politics” he argued and discussed the
flaws given by the Neorealist and Neoliberal institutions of International Relations.
He majorly challenged the Neorealist approach because at that time the realism
was major school of thought. In his article Wendt argued that the core point of
realism is “Power Politics” and even this situation is socially constructed
(Manmade) and can be reconstructed with new ideas.
The
realism approach focuses on the anarchic world system where there is
no world government, every state is sovereign and so everyone has to raise its
power to sustain/survive in anarchic world. The constructivists say that these
are not the naturally developed and inevitable circumstances, these are
socially constructed by the ideas of men and they can be reconstructed by newly
shared ideas rather than material force.
The
Constructivism proposes the theory of ideas and states that the International
Relations are not only affected by “power politics” but also by “shared ideas”.
This statement explains the fundamental structure of international politics as
socially constructed rather than strictly material. Hence they
(constructivists) conclude that the social interaction between states defines
the level of International Security, better the social interaction between
states, greater the level of international Security.
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