1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910809391203321

Autore

Zehfuss Maja

Titolo

Constructivism in international relations : the politics of reality / / Maja Zehfuss

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2002

ISBN

1-107-12599-5

1-280-43422-8

0-511-17745-3

0-511-04258-2

0-511-14778-3

0-511-33008-1

0-511-49179-4

0-511-04578-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 289 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge studies in international relations

Disciplina

327.1/01

Soggetti

International relations - Philosophy

Constructivism (Philosophy)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 264-280) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Constructivism in International Relations -- Three constructivisms -- German military involvement abroad -- Identity change? Wendt's constructivism and German military involvement abroad -- The identity move -- Collective identity -- Collective identity reconsidered -- The identity of identity -- Intersubjectivity and the normative: Kratochwil's constructivism and German military involvement abroad -- The significance of the normative -- Norms as the basis of intersubjectivity -- The politics of intersubjectivity and the normative -- Words and world: Onuf's constructivism and German military involvement abroad -- Words making the world -- The normative effects of speech acts -- Speech acts: success and failure -- The politics of words and worlds -- The politics of 'reality': Derrida's subversions, constructivism and German military involvement abroad -- The impossibility of pure presence and the politics of the 'real' -- The 'reality' of international politics -- Everyday 'reality' -- 'Reality' as raw material -- The politics



of constructivism -- The politics of constructivism -- Responsibility in international relations -- Constructivism, reality, International Relations.

Sommario/riassunto

Maja Zehfuss' book offers a fundamental critique of constructivism, focusing on the work of Wendt, Onuf and Kratochwil. Using Germany's shift towards participation in international military operations as an illustration, she demonstrates why each version of constructivism fails in its own project and comes apart on the basis of its own assumptions. Inspired by Derridean thought, this book highlights the political consequences of constructivist representations of reality. Each critique concludes that constructivist notions of key concepts are impossible, and that this is not merely a question of theoretical inconsistency, but of politics. The book is premised on the notion that the 'empirical' and the 'theoretical' are less separate than is acknowledged in international relations, and must be read as intertwined. Zehfuss examines the scholars' role in international relations, worrying that, by looking to constructivism as the future, they will be severely curtailing their ability to act responsibly in this area.