A tale of two cognitions: The Evolution of Social Constructivism in International Relations

Abstract Constructivism in International Relations (IR) is popular, but constructivists seem disappointed. Allegedly something has been lost. Such criticisms are misplaced. There was never a uniform Constructivism. Since constructivism is socially constructed, to argue that constructivism has evolve...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hannes Peltonen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais 2017-10-01
Series:Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-73292017000100214&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:Abstract Constructivism in International Relations (IR) is popular, but constructivists seem disappointed. Allegedly something has been lost. Such criticisms are misplaced. There was never a uniform Constructivism. Since constructivism is socially constructed, to argue that constructivism has evolved “wrongly” is odd. This paper explains the dissatisfaction with constructivism followed by a second reading of its evolution as a tale of two cognitions. These two cognitions distinguish genera in the constructivist “family”. A criticism against one genus based on the cognition of the other is unfair. A focus on cognitions and the use of genera helps in perceiving constructivism’s future evolution.
ISSN:1983-3121