4/2/07
***We continued with the "English school of thought" which primarily focused on a response to the changing world situation after the Cold War; from the neoliberalist, neorealist positions that focused more on the patterns and mechanisms that underlied the international order. This perspective looked more at the focus on the "international society", an important distinction, because this defined the era, societies were the focus of attention. The definition of an international society can be described as a collection of states that are aware of their common values, and that creates an international community in which societies influence the actions of different actors/states. This intertwines with the rationalist/order apex of the order, security and justice triangle. Emphasis is on order, social impusles wanting to order things (this is different from rational choice theory).*** May be used for journal for last fridays lecture
Constructivism was born about this same time, from a response to the current conditions after the Cold War, and the most influential person on this theory is Alexandra Wendt, an alumni from the U of M around 1992. The basic premise about this theory is that there is a construction that consists of social ideas and practices that constrains the action of states. This can be contrasted to the material culture that was emphasized by Waltz during the neorealist predominace. By this definitinon it would seem that actors like North Korea whose power is defined by material capabilities would be insignificant becuas it is fairly new(without a storied history) and is economically weak.