Social constructivism Petr Ocelík •MEB401 Teorie bezpečnosti a metodologie / MEB427 Bezpečnost: teorie a koncepty •26th October 2017 Outline •Constructivism as a social theory •The construction of social reality (John Searle) • •Discourse •Frame •Mini-case study • Constructivism as a social theory •Idealism: social world is primarily created and driven by ideas •Interpretativism: social phenomena do not exist independently of our interpretations of them • •Thus: social world is being constructed • •Social constructivism is not an IR theory •It is a social theory that provides an explanation or understanding of social organization as such Strong vs. weak constructivism •Weak constructivism: •Allows causal explanations •Allows objective knowledge •(Differentiates between brute and social facts) • •Strong constructivism: •Rejects the concept of causality •Rejects the possibility of objective knowledge •(There are only social facts) • http://www.monticello.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-content-images/peteronuf.JPG http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/76/163076-004-546792F5.jpg John Searle: The Construction of Social Reality •Brute vs. social/institutional facts • •Function assignment • •Individual vs. collective intentionality (~ subjectivity vs. intersubjectivity) • •Regulatory vs. constitutive rules http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQc8D1huy706BjQjCU_ERXB5B0ZuQyp6wesJ_yqHjOmCVpXHSI8 Brute vs. social facts •Brute facts: •Mind-independent •Independent on other facts • •Social facts: •Mind-dependent •Dependent on social context, i.e. language, actions etc. http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2005/Luo-buckyballs72.jpg http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/water-molecule-h2o-isolated-oxygen-hydrogen-red-wh-17629172.jpg http://www.affiliatemarketertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/make-money-online.jpg http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/computer-numbers-392.jpg Collective intentionality / intersubjectivity •The intersubjectivity is established through convergence of expectations about self and Others • • à social facts always exceed individual level • à social facts are always intersubjective • •E.g.: I can really play ice hockey (I) only if • we have shared understandings (intersubjectivity) • of my role (Me) as well as of role of others (Other) • in the game and about what constitutes the game • • • http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/ConsciousnessWeb/Conclusion/images/NewYorkerDyadicInters ubjectivity.JPG Function assignment •The function of a given object is not inherent, it is assigned to the object by its use • •A parallel with Wittgenstein’s “tool theory of meaning” • •General form of a status function: • X counts as Y in context of Z • •E.g.: boots (X) count as goal posts (Y) • while playing ice hockey at a pond (Z) • • https://lindacotestudio.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/linda-cote-pond-hockey-boots.jpg • • http://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20110909&t=2&i=497641475&w=644&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r =2011-09-09T095241Z_01_BTRE7880RFV00_RTROPTP_0_KOREA-NORTH-PARADE https://img.rt.com/files/2015.08/original/55c1d2f6c3618877548b4588.jpg Regulatory vs. constitutive rules •Regulatory rules govern existing activities • à activities do not depend on them • •Constitutive rules not only regulate, but also create/constitute given activities • à activities do depend on (are made of) them • •Any examples of constitutive rules in international politics? • • C:\Users\Cernoch\Dropbox\Energy Section\Obor\Kurzy\MEB401 Teorie bezpečnosti a metodologie\přednášky\constitutive rules.gif Social construction Sovereignty as a social construction • http://sovereignty.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/cropped-iStock_000017452286XSmall.jpg https://faustianeurope.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/leviathan1.jpg Sovereignty as a social construction • http://www.bonn-international.org/uploads/tx_templavoila/5.2.bild2.jpg http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02113/uk_2113430b.jpg http://jackson.armylive.dodlive.mil/files/2014/03/rope_crse.jpg Discourse •Discourse: an institutionalized use of language and other meaning systems (images, gestures etc.) • •Discourse provides, more or less, coherent account of some issue • •It shapes how we speak and think about the issue • • à power is exerted and maintained through discursive operations • •We are embedded in a plurality of overlapping discourses Malthusian discourse http://userscontent2.emaze.com/images/51e00d3b-0e95-4d82-830e-7799fc0243f1/3979aedb-f47e-4b3a-a3a6- 96b75d48c352.jpg http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/peak_oil-saudi-arabia.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart.jp g http://mato48.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/drought-water-scarcity-15.jpg http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/12/19/1229721590749/Iraq-soldier-001 .jpg http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01544/Bank_1544081c.jpg http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/11/19/1416422074804/Cold-war-Putin-a nd-Obama-010.jpg http://www.workers.org/articles/wp-content/uploads/ebola.png Frame / framing •Frame: a shared interpretative scheme through which actors understand and promote certain version of reality • •Actors – via framing – strategically emphasize or suppress certain aspects of a given issue • •The purpose of framing: promote own interpretation of the issue à make it hegemonic (critically unquestioned) Framing: climate change http://earthday.org/filesfolder/420/Untitled-2_clip_image110.jpg http://tcktcktck.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Climate-Education.jpg Framing: climate change http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_13/275166/140324-climate-panel-02_68dd6b464bc3253ca89f3f a419867a3a.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg http://www.campaigncc.org/sites/data/files/images/southampton_cropped.jpg (Contra)framing: climate change http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2013/5/2/1367484936389/Australia-blo g-about-clim-008.jpg Constructivist analysis: mini-case •Framing of unconventional natural gas resources (UNG) in Russian foreign policy in 2009 - 2011 • •RQ: how is the meaning of UNG constructed? Through which frames it is promoted? • •For details: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421514002171 • • C:\Users\Ocelot\Dropbox\Energy Section\- Work space -\- under construction -\Rusko UNG Framing\submission\pics\Figure_3.png C:\Users\Ocelot\Dropbox\Energy Section\- Work space -\- under construction -\Rusko UNG Framing\submission\pics\Figure_4.png Concluding remarks •Constructivism challenges materialism and essentialism • •Every institution is historically and socially conditioned à subversive potential • •Constructivism links the use of language with power relationships à emancipatory potential • •Constructivism accepted as a (mainly) ontological framework by many post-rationalist approaches (critical approaches, post-structuralism, to some extent New materialism)