Constructing International Relations: The Next Generation

The constructivist approach is the most important new school in the field of postcold war international relations. Constructivists assume that interstate and interorganizational relations are always at some level linguistic contexts. Thus they bridge IR theory and social theory. This book explores the constructivist approach in IR as it has been developing in the larger context of social science worldwide, with younger IR scholars building anew on the tradition of Wittgenstein, Habermas, Luhman. Foucault, and others. The contributors include Friedrich Kratochwil, Harald Muller, Matthias Albert, Jennifer Milliken, Birgit Locher-Dodge and Elisabeth Prugl, Ben Rosamond, Nicholas Onuf, Audie Klotz, Lars Lose, and the editors. Introduction, K.M. Fierke, Knud Erik Jørgensen; Part I Reconsidering Constructivism; Chapter 1 Constructivism as an Approach to Interdisciplinary Study, Friedrich V. Kratochwil; Chapter 2 Four Levels and a Discipline, Knud Erik Jørgensen; Chapter 3 Constructivisms in International Relations: Wendt, Onuf, and Kratochwil, Maja Zehfuss; Chapter 4 Feminism: Constructivism’s Other Pedigree, Birgit Locher, Elisabeth Prügl; Chapter 5 What Systems Theory Can Tell Us About Constructivism, Mathias Albert; Part II Practicing Constructivism; Chapter 6 Critical Methodology and Constructivism, K.M. Fierke; Chapter 7 Discourse Study: Bringing Rigor to Critical Theory, Jennifer Milliken; Chapter 8 International Relations as Communicative Action, Harald Müller; Chapter 9 Communicative Action and the World of Diplomacy, Lars G. Lose; Chapter 10 Constructing Globalization, Ben Rosamond; Part III Epilogue; Chapter 11 Can We Speak a Common Constructivist Language?, Audie Klotz; Chapter 12 The Politics of Constructivism, Nicholas G. Onuf;