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Constructivism (international Relations)
In international relations (IR), constructivism is a social theory that asserts that significant aspects of international relations are shaped by ideational factors - i.e. the mental process of forming ideas. The most important ideational factors are those that are collectively held; these collectively held beliefs construct the interests and identities of actors. Constructivist scholarship in IR is rooted in approaches and theories from the field of sociology. In contrast to other prominent IR approaches and theories (such as Realism (international relations), realism and Rationalism (international relations), rational choice), constructivists see identities and interests of actors as socially constructed and changeable; identities are not static and cannot be exogenously assumed- i.e. interpreted by reference to outside influences alone. Similar to rational choice, constructivism does not make broad and specific predictions about international relations; it is an approach to stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Relations
International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns all activities among states—such as war, diplomacy, trade, and foreign policy—as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), international legal bodies, and multinational corporations (MNCs). International relations is generally classified as a major multidiscipline of political science, along with comparative politics, political methodology, political theory, and public administration. It often draws heavily from other fields, including anthropology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, and sociology. There are several schools of thought within IR, of which the most prominent are realism, l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Politics
Power politics is a term which denotes an approach to political matters which aims to enhance the power of government actors. The term has much usage in the realm of international relations, and it is often used pejoratively. The German term for it, Machtpolitik, emphasizes conflict between nations as a way to assert national will and strengthen the state. This idea is related to Realpolitik but specifically acknowledges the use of force in establishing the German Empire. It often involves a romanticized view of military virtues and the belief that international conflicts serve a moral purpose. In the context of social and political power more broadly, historians argue that people in power tend to use more coercive tactics, increase social distance from those with less power, distrust those with less power, and undervalue their work and abilities. Cyclical theories of power politics George Modelski George Modelski defines global order as a 'management network centred o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reductionism
Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical position that interprets a complex system as the sum of its parts. Reductionism tends to focus on the small, predictable details of a system and is often associated with various philosophies like emergence, materialism, and determinism. Definitions ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' suggests that reductionism is "one of the most used and abused terms in the philosophical lexicon" and suggests a three-part division: # Ontological reductionism: a belief that the whole of reality consists of a minimal number of parts. # Methodological reductionism: the scientific attempt to provide an explanation in terms of ever-smaller entities. # Theory reductionism: the suggestion that a newer theory does not replace or absorb an older one, but reduces it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovereign State
A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or a dependent territory. A sovereign state (polity), state is required to have a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to International relations, interact with other sovereign states. In actual practice, recognition or non-recognition by other states plays an important role in determining the status of a country. List of states with limited recognition, Unrecognized states often have difficulty engaging in Diplomacy, diplomatic relations with other sovereign states. History Since the end of the 19th century, almost the entire globe has been divided into sections (countries) with more or less defined borders assigned to different sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man, The State, And War
''Man, the State, and War'' is a 1959 book on international relations by realist academic Kenneth Waltz. The book is influential within the field of international relations theory for establishing the three 'images of analysis' used to explain conflict in international politics: the international system, the state, and the individual. Waltz's three images of international relations Waltz's initial contribution to the field of international relations was his 1959 book, ''Man, the State, and War'', which classified theories of the causes of war into three categories, or levels of analysis. Waltz refers to these levels of analysis as "images," and uses the writings of one or more classic political philosophers to outline the major points of each image. Each image has two chapters: the first describes what that image says about the causes of war using primarily the writings of classical philosophers, and the second typically features Waltz analyzing the advantages and disadvantag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Waltz
Kenneth Neal Waltz (; June 8, 1924 – May 12, 2013) was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Waltz was one of the original founders of neorealism, or structural realism, in international relations theory and later became associated with the school of defensive neorealism. Waltz's theories have been extensively debated within the field of international relations. His 1979 book '' Theory of International Politics'' is the most assigned book in International Relations graduate training at U.S. universities. Early life, education, and military service Waltz was born on June 8, 1924, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he grew up and attended high school. He then enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he initially majored in mathematics. His college ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Structuralism
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel. Alternatively, as summarized by philosopher Simon Blackburn, structuralism is: Blackburn, Simon, ed. 2008. "Structuralism." In '' Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy'' (2nd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . p. 353."The belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their interrelations. These relations constitute a structure, and behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract structure." History and background The term ''structuralism'' is ambiguous, referring to different schools of thought in different contexts. As such, the movement in humanities and social sciences called structuralism r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociology Of Knowledge
The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought, the social context within which it arises, and the effects that prevailing ideas have on societies. It is not a specialized area of sociology. Instead, it deals with broad fundamental questions about the extent and limits of social influences on individuals' lives and the social-cultural basis of our knowledge about the world. The sociology of knowledge has a subclass and a complement. Its subclass is sociology of scientific knowledge. Its complement is the sociology of ignorance. The sociology of knowledge was pioneered primarily by the sociologist Émile Durkheim at the beginning of the 20th century. His work deals directly with how conceptual thought, language, and logic can be influenced by the societal milieu in which they arise. The 1903 essay ''Primitive Classification'', by Durkheim and Marcel Mauss, invoked "primitive" group mythology to argue that classification systems are collective ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoliberalism (international Relations)
Liberal institutionalism (or institutional liberalism or neoliberalism) is a theory of international relations that holds that international cooperation between states is feasible and sustainable, and that such cooperation can reduce conflict and competition. Neoliberalism is a revised version of liberalism. Alongside neorealism, liberal institutionalism is one of the two most influential contemporary approaches to international relations. In contrast to neorealist scholarship (which is skeptical of prospects for sustainable cooperation), liberal institutionalism argues that cooperation is feasible and sustainable. Liberal institutionalists highlight the role of international institutions and regimes in facilitating cooperation between states. Robert Keohane's 1984 book '' After Hegemony'' used insights from the new institutional economics to argue that the international system could remain stable in the absence of a hegemon, thus rebutting hegemonic stability theory. Keoh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neorealism (international Relations)
Neorealism or structural realism is a theory of international relations that emphasizes the role of power politics in international relations, sees competition and conflict as enduring features and sees limited potential for cooperation. The anarchic state of the international system means that states cannot be certain of other states' intentions and their security, thus prompting them to engage in power politics. It was first outlined by Kenneth Waltz in his 1979 book '' Theory of International Politics''. Alongside neoliberalism, neorealism is one of the two most influential contemporary approaches to international relations; the two perspectives dominated international relations theory from the 1960s to the 1990s.. Neorealism emerged from the North American discipline of political science, and reformulates the classical realist tradition of E. H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau, George Kennan, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Neorealism is subdivided into defensive and offensive neorealis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Katzenstein
Peter Joachim Katzenstein FBA (born February 17, 1945) is a German-American political scientist. He is the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. Katzenstein has made influential contributions to the fields of comparative politics, international relations, and international political economy. His main concentration lies in the study of culture, religion, identity, and regionalism in the interstate system, for which he is known as a proponent of constructivist thinking. He is often associated with the school of neoliberal institutionalism through his joint projects with Robert Keohane. He is known for his influential research on corporatism. Personal life Peter Katzenstein was born on February 17, 1945, in Hamburg, Germany. He moved to the United States at the age of nineteen. He became a U.S. citizen in 1979. In 1970, he married Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, an American political scientist. They have two children, and reside in Ith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathryn Sikkink
Kathryn A. Sikkink (born 1955) is an American author, human rights academic, and scholar of international relations working primarily through the theoretical strain of constructivism. She is currently a professor at Harvard Kennedy School. Academic career Sikkink started her studies at the University of Minnesota studying International Relations. She graduated in 1980 summa cum laude. She went on to receive her master's in political science, international relations from Columbia University in 1983. Sikkink briefly studied at the Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University in 1984 where she earned a Certificate of Latin American and Iberian Studies. Staying at Columbia, she earned her Ph.D. in political science, international relations with distinction. Prior to her career at Harvard University, Sikkink previously served as a Regents Professor and the McKnight Presidential Chair of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Currently she is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
