Despite being rather young compared to other social sciences, the area of international relations has advanced quickly, bringing sophisticated theoretical frameworks to bear on the analysis of global phenomena. As ideas have developed, there have unavoidably been "great discussions" about them, which have highlighted trends and disagreements among researchers of international relations.
This series addresses the "Fourth Great Debate" in international relations, which pits rationalism against relativism. Because it is a broad phrase that encompasses various theories, the reflectivity theories are the ones that are being highlighted. Giving a fundamental grasp of how these theories are applied in the study of international relations is the goal.
Constructivism in International Relations Theory 101
Constructivism is one of the most prominent viewpoints within the reflectivity school of thought, and it significantly influences the study of international relations. The constructivist theory has a number of foci, despite being a strong collection of theoretical configurations.
Maja Zehfuss, a political scientist and expert in international relations, stated in 2004 that "constructivist work underlines the centrality of meaning but implies, at the same time, the presence of an a priori reality" to approximately describe it (p. 10). In other words, constructivism investigates how social processes both construct and are constructed by the material conditions that already exist.
The constructivist point of view holds that human interaction and action both shape and are shaped by the material environment.
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