POL208Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Peter J. Katzenstein
Document Summary
The focus of social constructivism (constructivism) is on human awareness or consciousness and its place in world affairs. Argue that the most important aspect of international relations is social, not material. This social reality is not objective, or external, to the observer of international affairs. The international system does not exist on its own, it exists only as an intersubjective awareness, or a common understanding, among people. The system is constituted by ideas, not material forces. In social theory, constructivist emphasize the social construction of reality. Human relations, including international relations, consist of thoughts and ideas and not essentially of material conditions or forces. The social world is not a given: it is something out there" that exists independently of the thoughts and ideas of the people involved in it. The social world is a world of human consciousness; an intersubject domain: it is meaningful to people who made it and live in it.
