Constructivism in International Relations The Politics of Reality [Hardcover]

Zehfuss critiques constructivist theories of international relations, arguing that they stop us from acting responsibly.Maja Zehfuss critiques constructivist theories of international relations, currently considered to be at the cutting edge of the discipline, and finds them wanting and even politically dangerous. The critique uses Germany's shift towards using its military abroad after the end of the Cold War, something the country had not done before, to illustrate why constructivism does not work and how it leads to particular analytical outcomes and forecloses others. Zehfuss argues that, by looking towards constructivism as the future, we are limiting our ability to act responsibly in international relations.Maja Zehfuss critiques constructivist theories of international relations, currently considered to be at the cutting edge of the discipline, and finds them wanting and even politically dangerous. The critique uses Germany's shift towards using its military abroad after the end of the Cold War, something the country had not done before, to illustrate why constructivism does not work and how it leads to particular analytical outcomes and forecloses others. Zehfuss argues that, by looking towards constructivism as the future, we are limiting our ability to act responsibly in international relations.Maja Zehfuss critiques constructivist theories of international relations (currently considered to be at the cutting edge of the discipline) and finds them wanting and even politically dangerous. Zehfuss uses Germany's first shift toward using its military abroad after the end of the Cold War to illustrate why constructivism does not work and how it leads to particular analytical outcomes and forecloses others. She argues that scholars are limiting their abilities to act responsibly in international relations by looking towards constructivism as the future.Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Identity change? Wendt's constructivism and Germanl³‡