Session 17: Structuralism vs. Constructivism

In the first half of our semester, we have read about realism and liberalism at length and made peace with the fact that both the theories dominate the study of International Relations. Giving a quick overview, relevant to the discussion that follows, it can be summarized that (neo)realism and (neo)liberalism argue that politics is an ordered system comprising of a structure and interacting units. Kenneth Waltz can be taken as one strong proponent of the idea that the ‘structure’, domestic or international, is a key factor to be considered when analysing the (inter)activity of the between units. He argues that international politics is primarily determined by the fact that international system is anarchic, that is, it lacks overarching authority. Instead, it is comprised of units (states) which are sovereign over their own territory. Since they have no one to look up to, they exist in a ‘self-help’ system – they rely on themselves for security.  This argument is seen both in Kenneth Waltz’s ‘Man, State and War’ and ‘Political Structures’.

Neorealism (and neoliberalism) has been the dominant discourse of International Relations. In the alter 1980s, however, the Constructivist theory was used to explain the actions and interactions taking place in the political sphere. The Constructivist theory, as presented by Alexander Wendt and John Ruggie, challenges the ideas of neorealism/structuralism has suggests that the significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially constructed instead of being ‘given by nature’. Consequently, they are capable of being changed by human practice. Wendt is critical of the idea that states exist in a self-help system. Instead, he argues that the ideas and beliefs states have of each other are determining factors of international politics. These ideas, he says, are a product of social relations instead of material forces.

By critiquing the individualistic and materialistic nature and motives of state behaviour, Social Constructivism rises as yet another dominant theory that explains states’ behaviour as being nurtured (changeable by humans) instead of being innate (inherent in their nature).