Modernist and Post-structural Constructivisms

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Revision with unchanged content. Realist/neo-realist and neo-liberal institutional approaches of international relations (IR) theory, which take a rationalist/systemic approach using the state as a primary unit of analysis, have come under fire. Due to this ‘critical turn’, the discipline of IR seems to have congealed around seemingly intractable conceptualizations of theorizing and structural vs. post-structural, and positivist vs. post-positivist. The first part of this book is concerned with assessing some constructivist critiques of the dominant theories. Since not all constructivists are classified or classify themselves as post-structuralist and/or post-positivist, the second part attempts to unpack the category of IR constructivism. By comparing and contrasting two diametrically opposed constructivist strands – modernist and post-structural – on the central constructivist themes of intersubjectivity, identity, and representation, the text attempts to verify whether a common core of principles exists between the opposing strands. The modernist work of Alexander Wendt (supplemented by Emanuel Adler and John Gerard Ruggie) is compared to the post-structural position of David Campbell (supplemented by Richard K. Ashley and R.B.J Walker). The result of the analysis demonstrates that, even within the diametrically opposed strands, a common core of constructivist principles does exist.