#S.7.1BARKER,JPH
Social Constructivism
The thought of Social constructivism started off in the early 1960’s (Because this is when his work was published) with a post-revolutionary Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. He argued that all cognitive functions come from somewhere, and thus it is to be explained as a product of social interactions and that learning was not simply the assimilation and accommodation of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which learners were integrated into a knowledgeable community.
According to Vygotsky. “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”
Nicholas Greenwood Onuf was the first theorist who introduced the term “constructivism” in International Relations theory in 1989
1992 Wendt, Alexander another prominent theorist of social constructivism says
“self-help and power politics do not follow either logically or causally from anarchy and that if today we find ourselves in a self-help world, this is due to process, not structure. There is no “logic” of anarchy apart from the practices that create and instantiate one structure of identities and interests rather than another; structure has no existence or causal powers apart from process.”
Kafai & Resnick, 1996 “a theory of learning and a strategy for education”
John Ruggie, 1998 to constructivists, the anarchical system is whatever the actors want it to be. Thus, there is no reason that anarchy brings about war, or peace. The actors play a major role in how they interpret the system. Furthermore, their positions can evolve and shift over time. Thus, unlike realists and liberals, constructivists allow for attention regarding the “making” of the conditions actors do not respond to “given” conditions, they create them.
Emannuel Alder (1998) Where they go, how, when and why, is not entirely determined by physical forces and constraints; but neither does it depend solely on individuals preferences and rational choices. it is also a matter of their shared knowledge, the collective meaning they attach to their situation, their authority and legitimacy, the rules, institutions and material resources they use to find their way, and their practices, or even, sometimes their joint creativity”
Reus-Smit, 2005 states constructivism focuses on ideas of norms, the development of structures, the relationship between actors and said structures, as well as how identity influences actions and behavior amongst and between actors as well as how norms themselves shape an actor’s character
Emmanuel Alder (2008) “Social Constructivism in IR follows idealist social constructivist approach. The filling of the gap of Constructivist IR, synthetic explanation of the constructivist approach: -first it clarifies methodological foundations of constructivism (importance of socio-cognitive factors. Second it clearly positions and separates constructivism from the neighboring practices.”
According to Vygotsky. “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”
Nicholas Greenwood Onuf was the first theorist who introduced the term “constructivism” in International Relations theory in 1989
1992 Wendt, Alexander another prominent theorist of social constructivism says
“self-help and power politics do not follow either logically or causally from anarchy and that if today we find ourselves in a self-help world, this is due to process, not structure. There is no “logic” of anarchy apart from the practices that create and instantiate one structure of identities and interests rather than another; structure has no existence or causal powers apart from process.”
Kafai & Resnick, 1996 “a theory of learning and a strategy for education”
John Ruggie, 1998 to constructivists, the anarchical system is whatever the actors want it to be. Thus, there is no reason that anarchy brings about war, or peace. The actors play a major role in how they interpret the system. Furthermore, their positions can evolve and shift over time. Thus, unlike realists and liberals, constructivists allow for attention regarding the “making” of the conditions actors do not respond to “given” conditions, they create them.
Emannuel Alder (1998) Where they go, how, when and why, is not entirely determined by physical forces and constraints; but neither does it depend solely on individuals preferences and rational choices. it is also a matter of their shared knowledge, the collective meaning they attach to their situation, their authority and legitimacy, the rules, institutions and material resources they use to find their way, and their practices, or even, sometimes their joint creativity”
Reus-Smit, 2005 states constructivism focuses on ideas of norms, the development of structures, the relationship between actors and said structures, as well as how identity influences actions and behavior amongst and between actors as well as how norms themselves shape an actor’s character
Emmanuel Alder (2008) “Social Constructivism in IR follows idealist social constructivist approach. The filling of the gap of Constructivist IR, synthetic explanation of the constructivist approach: -first it clarifies methodological foundations of constructivism (importance of socio-cognitive factors. Second it clearly positions and separates constructivism from the neighboring practices.”
REFRENCES: http://internationalrelations.org/constructivism_in_international_relations/
http://www.e-ir.info/2011/02/03/constructivism-an-introduction/