Theories of International Relations

Theories of International Relations

21th class meeting, May 31, 2016

Social constructivism – IV: Fierke in DKSFeminism – I: Enloe

Anna van der Vleuten

2 Constructivisms

1. L’histoire se repète? 2. Social ontology, social

facts3. Social dimension: Nicolas

Onuf, A World of our making (1989)

4. Identity constituts interest5. Explaining –

understanding (why? how possible?)

2

03-05-2023

(F & S have withdrawn all their money from their bank account) “In fact these are only just pieces of paper!”

3 Constructivism - role of identity in interregional relations

‘Why did SADC, an intergovernmental organization, establish a supranational court, only to suspend it?’

M. Hulse and A. van der Vleuten (2015) ‘Agent run amuck. The SADC Tribunal and Governance Transfer Roll-back’, in: T.A. Börzel and V. van Hüllen (Eds) Governance Transfer by Regional Organizations, Palgrave, pp 84-103.

SADC Tribunal, Windhoek, Namibia

4 Why no harm to SADC reputation? Identities and rhetorical entrapment

Identity SADC: • Ubuntu difficult for the credibility of SADC to criticize African ‘brothers and

sisters’ • African renaissance: ‘the emergence of the continent from a long period of

darkness and fear into one of light and a dream fulfilled… in which through our personal efforts we have redefined ourselves’ (Thabo Mbeki)

• Anti-colonialism : ‘We are tired of being lectured on democracy by the very countries which under colonialism either directly denied us the rights of free citizens, or were indifferent to our suffering and yearning to break free and be democratic’ (PM Tanzania, 2004).

5 Constructivism: epistemology• Rationalism• Social constructivism

- Middle ground or conventional constructivists: social ontology & ‘positivist’ epistemology

- ‘Critical’ or consistent constructivists: social ontology & social epistemology language! ‘speech acts’

= Linguistic turn

03-05-2023 5

6 Fierke as a consistent constructivist

Thich Quang Duc, 1963, Saigon

Speech acts

7 Case study War on Terror

Neorealism:- Actors?- Threat?- Behaviour of states under anarchy?

Constructivism:- How actors & identities are

constructed in interactions- How they define each other in a

certain context as antagonists- Potential for transformation

8 Case Study War on Terror, speech acts

Construction −of actors and identities−of threat,−of conflict

Potential for transformation

9 Constructivism – speech acts

Jason Sharman• Blacklisting effectiveness of backlisting, ‘power’ of IOs • Money laundering effectiveness of international regulation

Sharman (2009) ‘The bark is the bite. International Organizations and blacklisting’, Review of InternationalPolitical Economy, 16:4, 573-596h http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09692290802403502#preview

Sharman (2010) ‘Shopping for anonymous shell companies’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24:4, 127-140, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20799176?uid=3738736&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104080908527

10 [The fourth great debate] Feminism in IR

Rationalism/Utilitarism

Constructivism Postpositivism/Reflectivism

Feminist rationalismJoshua GoldsteinMary Caprioli & Mark Boyer

Feminist constructivismR. Charli Carpenter

Feminist critical security studiesChristine ChinLaura Sjoberg

Feminist critical political economyElisabeth PrüglJacqui True

Feminist poststructuralismCharlotte HooperLaura Shepherd

Feminist postcolonialismGeeta Chowdry and Sheila Nair

11 What is feminist IR about?

Introduction: Professor Kimberley Hutchins on Feminism in International Relations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajAWGztPUiU (12 minutes)

1. Pointing to the exclusions and biases of mainstream IR (state-centrism and positivism)

2. Making women visible as social, economic and political subjects in international politics

3. Analyse how gender inequalities are embedded in the day-to-day practices of international relations

4. Empower women as subjects of knowledge by building theoretical understanding of international relations from the position of women and their lived experiences.

(Jill Steans, 2003, 435)

12 Cynthia Enloe

Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Bananas, Beaches and Bases (1989)

What do feminist researchers do?

•Introduce gender as a variable•Private – domestic – local – trivial•Where are the women (Merkel – secretary)? •Micro-practices•Where does power operate? marriage•Taking transnational feminists seriously•Example of the UN Arms Trade Treaty•Where are the men?