Week 6 - Social Constructivism


Social Constructivism

Constructivism, as a way of viewing international relations, pries deeper into the reasons why states make the geo-political decisions that they do and the impact this has on existing structures in the global society that states exist in. The concept of geo-economics, as explored in Scholvin and Wigell's work, is a phenomenon that demonstrates the way in which constructivism has influenced our conceptualisation of international relations and the role that states play in interacting globally with each other. It raises the question of whether geo-economics is simply an analytical framework for international relations scholarship or is it more than that, an example of statecraft in action perhaps? Scholvin and Wigell claim that Russia's use of natural gas as a strategic leverage is a typical example of geo-economics in play as it so closely tied to the geographical requirements that make the political manoeuvre possible. Thus, the conceptualisation of a geographically restricted use of economic policy show show constructivism has formed a way of viewing international relations through a lens that identifies the role that states play as actors in the broader context of the structures of global politics that they exist within.



 References

 Barnett, M. (2017) Chapter 10 - Social Constructivism. In J. Baylis, S.Smith, and P. Owens, (Eds.) The Globalisation of World Politics: an introduction to international relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Scholvin, S., and Wigell, M. “Geo-Economics as Concept and Practice in International Relations: Surveying the State of the Art”, Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Accessed on 2 May 2018 http://www.css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/dd73604f-ffee-44e2-8960-4ecd8927fa32
Geo-Economics as Concept and Practice in International Relations: Surveying the State of the Art

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