IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v9y2019i1p2158244019832703.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Evolution of Social Constructivism in Political Science: Past to Present

Author

Listed:
  • Hoyoon Jung

Abstract

This article aims to illuminate how social constructivism has evolved as a mainstream international relation (IR) paradigm within a short period of time. To be specific, I navigated core tenets of constructivism in terms of its ontology, epistemology, and methodology, respectively. I also explored the growing body of constructivist empirical research and ensuing theoretical refinement as well as the strengths and weaknesses of a constructivist approach. Through these discussions, this article argues that constructivist approaches, since its emergence, have hugely contributed to the development of the study of IRs, providing novel insights and distinct ways of understanding of social and international reality with its own added value, by focusing on the role of ideas, identity, and norms in shaping state preferences and world politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoyoon Jung, 2019. "The Evolution of Social Constructivism in Political Science: Past to Present," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:2158244019832703
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244019832703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244019832703
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244019832703?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krasner, Stephen D., 1982. "Structural causes and regime consequences: regimes as intervening variables," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 185-205, April.
    2. Towns, Ann E., 2012. "Norms and Social Hierarchies: Understanding International Policy Diffusion “From Belowâ€," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(2), pages 179-209, April.
    3. Haas, Peter M., 1992. "Introduction: epistemic communities and international policy coordination," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. Schimmelfennig, Frank, 2005. "Strategic Calculation and International Socialization: Membership Incentives, Party Constellations, and Sustained Compliance in Central and Eastern Europe," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 827-860, October.
    5. Acharya, Amitav, 2004. "How Ideas Spread: Whose Norms Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 239-275, April.
    6. Kim, Hun Joon & Sharman, J.C., 2014. "Accounts and Accountability: Corruption, Human Rights, and Individual Accountability Norms," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 417-448, April.
    7. Checkel, Jeffrey T., 2005. "International Institutions and Socialization in Europe: Introduction and Framework," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 801-826, October.
    8. Finnemore, Martha & Sikkink, Kathryn, 1998. "International Norm Dynamics and Political Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 887-917, October.
    9. Sheila Nair, 2013. "Governance, Representation and International Aid," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 630-652.
    10. Wendt, Alexander, 1992. "Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 391-425, April.
    11. Price, Richard, 1998. "Reversing the Gun Sights: Transnational Civil Society Targets Land Mines," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 613-644, July.
    12. Ruggie, John Gerard, 1998. "What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 855-885, October.
    13. Finnemore, Martha, 1993. "International organizations as teachers of norms: the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cutural Organization and science policy," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(4), pages 565-597, October.
    14. Checkel, Jeffrey T., 2001. "Why Comply? Social Learning and European Identity Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(3), pages 553-588, July.
    15. Finnemore, Martha, 1996. "Norms, culture, and world politics: insights from sociology's institutionalism," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(2), pages 325-347, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ellen Minkman, 2023. "Resolving impasses in policy translation: Shall we adjust the idea or the process?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(2), pages 333-350, March.
    2. Mengi-Dinçer, H. & Ediger, V.Ş. & Yesevi, Ç.G., 2021. "Evaluating the International Renewable Energy Agency through the lens of social constructivism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Rafiullah Noori & Shandana Shoaib & Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, 2023. "Antecedents and Consequences of Perception of Organizational Politics: Empirical Evidence for Public Sector Universities in Eastern Afghanistan," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1477-1503, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. May-Britt Stumbaum, 2015. "The diffusion of norms in security-related fields: views from China, India and the EU," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 331-347, September.
    2. Tanja A. Börzel & Thomas Risse, 2009. "Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism - The EU as a Model of Regional Integration," KFG Working Papers p0007, Free University Berlin.
    3. Adela Toscano-Valle & Antonio Sianes & Francisco Santos-Carrillo & Luis A. Fernández-Portillo, 2022. "Can the Rational Design of International Institutions Solve Cooperation Problems? Insights from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Mitchell, Ronald B., 2011. "Transparency for governance: The mechanisms and effectiveness of disclosure-based and education-based transparency policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1882-1890, September.
    5. Tanja A. Börzel & Thomas Risse, 2009. "The Transformative Power of Europe: The European Union and the Diffusion of Ideas," KFG Working Papers p0001, Free University Berlin.
    6. David Benjamin Weyrauch & Christoph Valentin Steinert, 2022. "Instrumental or intrinsic? Human rights alignment in intergovernmental organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 89-115, January.
    7. Diarmuid Torney, 2012. "Assessing EU Leadership on Climate Change - The Limits of Diffusion in EU Relations with China and India," KFG Working Papers p0046, Free University Berlin.
    8. Christian Kaunert & Sarah Leonard & Ori Wertman, 2022. "Securitization of COVID-19 as a Security Norm: WHO Norm Entrepreneurship and Norm Cascading," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, June.
    9. Daniel Berliner & Aseem Prakash, 2012. "From norms to programs: The United Nations Global Compact and global governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(2), pages 149-166, June.
    10. Keonhi SON, 2023. "Do international treaties have an impact only on ratifying States? The influence of the ILO Maternity Protection Conventions in 160 countries between 1883 and 2018," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(2), pages 245-269, June.
    11. Shenkar Oded & Arikan Ilgaz, 2010. "Business as International Politics: Drawing Insights from Nation-State to Inter-Firm Alliances," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 1-33, January.
    12. Remi Maier-Rigaud, 2008. "International Organizations as Corporate Actors: Agency and Emergence in Theories of International Relations," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2008_07, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    13. Leuze, Kathrin & Brand, Tilman & Jakobi, Anja P. & Martens, Kerstin & Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth, 2008. "Analysing the two-level game: international and national determinants of change in education policy making," TranState Working Papers 72, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    14. Hainmueller, Jens & Hiscox, Michael J., 2006. "Learning to Love Globalization: Education and Individual Attitudes Toward International Trade," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 469-498, April.
    15. Bethke, Felix S., 2016. "Cultural Bias in the Perception of Foreign-Policy Events," Global Cooperation Research Papers 14, University of Duisburg-Essen, Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research (KHK/GCR21).
    16. Ummu Salma Bava, 2017. "India and the Global Order," International Studies, , vol. 54(1-4), pages 22-41, January.
    17. Per-Olof Busch & Helge Jörgens & Kerstin Tews, 2005. "The Global Diffusion of Regulatory Instruments: The Making of a New International Environmental Regime," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 598(1), pages 146-167, March.
    18. Mengi-Dinçer, H. & Ediger, V.Ş. & Yesevi, Ç.G., 2021. "Evaluating the International Renewable Energy Agency through the lens of social constructivism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Richard Higgott, 2012. "The Utility and Limits of the ‘European Model’ for the Regional Institutionalization of East Asia," Chapters, in: Jehoon Park & T. J. Pempel & Geng Xiao (ed.), Asian Responses to the Global Financial Crisis, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Michael J. Gilligan & Nathaniel H. Nesbitt, 2009. "Do Norms Reduce Torture?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 445-470, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:2158244019832703. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.