Analysing Constructivism In International Relations Theory Politics Essay

Analysing Constructivism In International Relations Theory Politics Essay With its opposite position to mainstream International Relations (IR) theorists’, rationalist or positivist (neo-realism and neo-liberalism), explanations to international politics, constructivism could be perceived as the development of group of critical theories that contested the way in which IR should search for knowledge in 1980s, the period Yosuf Lapid (1989) describes as â€Å"the Third Debate†. Although scholars who subsume to constructivist idea acknowledged this point, they argue that constructivist ideas toward IR are not exactly the same with its predecessor. The like such as Ted Hof (1998) and Christian Reus-Smit (2001) point out that constructivism is focus on the way in decoding the international social phenomenon through empirical analysis as well as normative approach. It also emphasize on the role of identity in determining agent’s behaviour and the mutually constituted between agents and structures. These concepts are not fit in to the mindset of critical theories, which tend to employ different aspects of social exchanges as a unit of study in trying to understand the nature of international politics. Having asserted that constructivism is neither rationalism nor critical theories, this essay aims to explore the uniqueness of the particular theory and its prominence in IR in the globalization stage, where the explanatory power of, the dominant, realism seems to be less tenable. This essay is divided into three parts: firstly, exploring premised concept of constructivism; secondly, giving empirical observation regarding the North-South relations through constructivist view; lastly, wrap up the study and assess the promise of the theory as one of the key approaches in the field of IR. What is constructivism? The rise of constructivism after the end of the Cold War not only contest the limited account of rationalism, both neo-realism and neo-liberalism, in explaining the changing order in global politics but also, at the s ame time, put forward critical theories beyond its territory by subsuming to the normative and empirical analysis. Rationalists, both neo-realists and neo-liberalists, share the same premise toward the structure of IR and how states response to it. As a result of Lakotos’ theory construction model and microeconomic theory, they have a common view that states are self-interested and rational agent within the anarchic international system, states perceive IR as a venue for maximizing their interests, thus, the way states act is subject to the power they get from the distribution of material power within the system, this also lead to hierarchy in IR (Reus-Smit, 2001). On the other hand, critical theories which might not pay much attention on the structure of IR, they are more interested in meta-theoretical debate which rationalism. They oppose the epistemology and ontology that are postulated by rationalism, which lead to their rejection of using normative or universalist approa ch in studying the discipline. This part of essay is going to differentiate premise ideas of constructivism with the other two branches of thought. Ted Hof (1998) highlights that the key premised concept of constructivism is an intersubjective set of meanings, a shared meaning in a society, which can be in a form of social norms or social practices. According to Hof (ibid), intersubjective set of meanings plays a vital role in formulating, another important focus of constructivism, state’s identity. Social norms are the foundations that influence state’s behaviour and that behaviour creates interactions with others who, through the reproduction process, will recognize this behaviour as state’s identity. Whereas realism emphasizes on distribution of material capabilities in the anarchic system of IR, constructivism views that normative structures are of importance as well as material capabilities. As having asserted by Reus-Smit (2001), normative structures are t he thought to shape the social identity of political actor. The norms that determine actors’ identity can go in parallel between International practices and internal elements. Having focused on how normative structures shape actor’s identity, constructivism provides an account for the development of interests as well as actor’s perception toward others. According to Alexander Wendt, the prominent constructivist scholar, â€Å"identity is the basis of interests† (1992: quoted in Reus-Smit, ibid), constructivist scholars hold that by having examined the connection between identity and interests, it is possible to provide room for understanding why each actor sometimes views the same situation differently.

US Supreme Court Decision AT&T. versus Hulteen Research Paper

US Supreme Court Decision AT&T. versus Hulteen - Research Paper Example Hulteen 1). The matter in controversy is clear, if the employer does not give an employee full pension benefit by excluding the time of pregnancy leave on the ground that when the employee took pregnancy leave, the PDA Act was not operative, Can the employee file a suit for discrimination? Can the employee enforce credited leave time for such absence? Can the employee get relief under U.S. law and enforce greater pension benefit? What is the present law with regard to this matter? To find answers to the above questions, a research and in depth analysis of the case in hand would surely prove to be of great help, as discussed in the latter context of the paper. 2. The Dispute Before proceeding further into the case, knowledge of the facts of the case is essential. The petitioner of this case was the American Telegraph & Telephone Company, whereas the respondents consisted of individual respondents in the form of Noreen Hulteen, Eleanora Collet, Elizabeth Snyder, Linda Porter, and the c ollective-bargaining representative of the employees, the CWA or the Communications Workers of America (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 3). AT & T provided pensions and other benefits to its employees on the basis of seniority system, relying upon the term of employment, which was equivalent to service at the company minus uncredited leave time. For a period extending from 1960 to mid-1970s the employees on disability leave got full service leave but those who took personal leave, which also included leaves for pregnancy, received a maximum service credit of 30 days. The respondents of this case received less service credit for pregnancy leave than they should have received, if they had taken a leave for disability. Respondent Noreen Hulteen received seven months less credit, Eleanora Collet received six months less credit, while Elizabeth Snyder and Linda Porter received two months less payment. If the total term of employment was not so decreased, they would receive greater pension benefit (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 2-3). The individual respondents of this case and the CWA filed charges of discrimination against AT & T with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). After receipt of complaint EEOC issued a Letter of determination finding that AT & T had discriminated against Hulteen and similar class. The EEOC issued a notice of right to sue to the respondent and the CWA, after which Hulteen filed a suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court on this issue to resolve a split between the decision of the Ninth Circuit on the one hand and on the other hand the Sixth and Seventh Circuits on the same issue (AT & T Corp v. Hulteen 3-4). Hulteen had to take the issue to the Court without negotiating a settlement due to the fact that she had to satisfy herself with considerably low pension than she would have received, if she would not have taken the pregnancy leave. The policy of AT & T Corp. will never have allowed her to enjoy the full pension benefits and she had to file a suit. The EEOC had to resort to a case, as it had to keep in mind the interest of the other workers. Finally, AT & T had to move to the Supreme Court, as it was not satisfied with the decision of the Ninth circuit. 3. The Procedure The suit never reached the District Court at the first instance. The individual respondents of this case and the CWA filed charges of discrimination with the EEOC, stating that discrimination has taken place on the basis of sex and pregnancy in violation of Title VII. The suit

Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Article Critique - Essay Example In the article, author mentions that the Taksim Park has seen many changes and social movements during different periods of the twentieth century. Once the area housed Armenian cemetery and St. Gregory church; however, the cemetery was demolished, and on its area, and surrounding properties now stands the Gezi Park, Istanbul Radio building and many luxurious hotels, including Hilton. According to the author Taksim , in its present form, designed by the urban planner Henri Post, presents a vibrant section of the city and symbolizes modern Istanbul. The author in her article states that the current Prime Minister wants to destroy the symbol of Istanbul, and build in its place a shopping mall in the fashion of 19th century artillery barracks of Ottoman Empire. People consider that in taking such a decision Prime Minister acted as an authoritarian ruler who wants to revive Muslim elite culture in a secular country. A peaceful sit-in protest against uprooting of trees from a park created turbulence in the political arena of a country spreading a wave of violent protests across the country; was the author able to describe the underpinning cause of this incident? From the title of the article, one would imply that the author is conveying a message that Taksim Park incident should be an example that, in the 21st century, a leader cannot use the state power to change country’s environment. In the modern century, people’s concerns over the balance of development and degradation of environment cannot be ignored any more. The author very precisely portrayed the sentiment of a large cross section of the Turkish society through the sentence â€Å"Erdogan's and other government officials' apparent contempt for and vilification of the protesters, and their seeming indifference to their concerns (Watenpaugh 1).† In the first paragraph, the author concludes that movement shows deep discontent of Turkish society against Erdogan’s authoritarian governme nt, but the author does not provide an analysis of this conclusion based on facts. Instead, the author provides links to different articles on the Internet, so the reader reads the articles to establish the validity of author’s conclusion. The author uses this method repetitively in all over the article. This is perhaps the weakest side of the article. However, the author successfully explains that re-creation of 19th century Ottoman military barracks, which once were destroyed, and naming a planned third bridge over Bosphorus after controversial 16th century Sultan Selim indeed portray the current government as neo-Ottoman Muslim elite. The article contains 10 paragraphs. In these paragraphs, the author failed to explain whether the article intends to present to the audience that the Taksim protest describes people’s concerns over urban development at the cost of environmental sacrifice, or it describes the protest against the authoritarian behavior of Erdogan’ s government. The motive in this case is the protest against the uprooting of trees, but the cause is political, rooted deep in the society. Though author implied it, but failed to explain it explicitly. Author’s commentary in the article, â€Å"through a series of highly contested lawsuits, the municipality managed to appropriate the cemetery from the Armenian