Social constructivism
Petr Ocelík
ESSn4007 / MEBn4001
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
• Interpretivism: access to reality is only through shared understandings
• 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 (researcher independent) 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)
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
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.
Collective intentionality / intersubjectivity
• The intersubjectivity is established through convergence of
expectations about self and Others
→ social facts always exceed individual level
→ 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
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)
Regulatory vs. constitutive rules
• Regulatory rules govern existing activities
→ activities do not depend on them
• Constitutive rules not only regulate, but also
create/constitute given activities
→ activities do depend on (are made of) them
Social construction: a mutually constitutive relationship
Mutual constitution and socialization
• Constitutive rules not only regulate, but also
create/constitute given activities
→ activities do depend on (are made of) them
• By following and reproducing constitutive
rules, actors are being socialized
• Any examples of constitutive rules in
international politics?
Sovereignty as a social construction
Sovereignty as a social construction
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
→ power is exerted and maintained through discursive operations
• We are embedded in a plurality of overlapping discourses
Malthusian discourse
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 →
make it hegemonic (critically unquestioned)
Framing: climate change
Framing: climate change
(Contra)framing: climate change
Constructivist analysis: mini-case
Ocelík, P. (2022). Climate change scepticism in the Czech newspaper front-page
coverage: A one man show. In D. B. Tindall, M. C. J. Stoddart, & R. E. Dunlap (Eds.),
Handbook of Anti-Environmentalism. Edward Elgar.
• RQ: What has been the prevalence of climate change scepticism in 2009-2018?
Normalized actor congruence network (w > 1), 2014–2018Normalized actor congruence network (w > 1), 2009–2013
Distribution of dis/agreements on selected topics (2009–2013) Distribution of dis/agreements on selected topics (2014–2018)
Concluding remarks
• Constructivism challenges materialism and essentialism
• Every institution is historically and socially conditioned
→ subversive potential
• Constructivism links the use of language with power relationships
→ emancipatory potential
• Constructivism accepted as a (mainly) ontological framework by many
post-rationalist approaches (critical approaches, post-structuralism,
to some extent New materialism)