Constructivism

Perspectives

Beyond these basic points of agreement, there are a variety of constructivist perspectives differing on epistemology (how we know what we know), levels of analysis (systems vs. states vs. groups), and theoretical orientation.

Epistemologically, the debate between critical and conventional (or modernist) constructivism involves different degrees of skepticism in pursuing objective knowledge and the ethical position of seeking knowledge rather than the more emancipatory goals of wakening oppressed groups to their plight amid unjust hegemonic discourses. The notion of causation is common to mainstream political science, but constructivists also highlight the “constitution” of action, not just the cause. Methodologically, the latter involves understanding why political actors do what they do by reconstructing their perceptions and language in a given social context, rather than worrying about the “scientific” mission of generalizable laws and patterns of politics.

In terms of levels of analysis, that is, where the analysis is located (or the causal variables are located), this varies greatly in constructivism over time and across the literature. Constructivism’s “first wave” in the United States tended to be modernist and systemic, sociologically showing how shared ideas promoted changes and isomorphism in state identity and behavior. Critics pointed out great variation in norm violations or norm adoption across states and regions and focused on “domestic” constructions as barriers to global norms or as areas of study in their own right. Others focused on the social constructions of elites and decision makers within countries and the contingent definition of interests and options within domestic socio-cognitive constraints from Russia to the U.S. John F. Kennedy administration in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[Page 220]Theoretically, there are liberal, realist, and psychological variants, among others. Critics of early forms of constructivism noted its similarity to neoliberal institutionalism: that norms and institutions shape and constrain choices in the international arena. Charges of liberalism included the optimism with which some constructivists viewed the ability to change the world’s social norms and, thus, change the world. Others, intrigued by the notion of social forces and ideas applied to politics, represented realist constructivism or constructivist realism. More recently, Jacques Hymans heralded the arrival of psychological constructivism in Richard Ned Lebow’s Cultural Theory of International Politics, which combined internal psychological drives toward honor with global cultural dynamics to explain the outbreak of wars not clearly defined by self-interest. The potential of psychology’s focus on identity and beliefs to enrich constructivism has been explored in studies of threat perception and decision making.

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