Page 33 - Global Political Economy_Understanding The International Economic Order

CHA PTER O NE
afresh from a tabula rasa wiped clean by constructivism is not com-
pelling.
Constructivism’s principal critique of realism is that realism is
purely materialistic and analyzes the political world only in terms
of technological forces, physical circumstances, and other objective
factors; realists are said to be overly deterministic and to portray a
political world over which human beings have no control (or
“agency”). Constructivism, on the other hand, is said to emphasize
the role of ideas, social structures, and human volition in political
affairs; people can construct a better political and more humane uni-
verse than that described by realists. Although I cannot do justice
in several paragraphs to these ideas, several comments are in order.
Constructivism makes too great a distinction between realism, at least
as I use the term in this book, and constructivism with respect to the
role of ideas, ideology, and constructs. Classical realists from Thucyd-
ides forward have emphasized the role of ideas and “identity” in po-
litical affairs. What better example than the powerful idea of nation-
alism and the importance of national identity that have been staples
of realist thought since Machiavelli and Hobbes! While constructiv-
ists are right in stressing the importance of shared ideas and the social
construction of the world, it is not clear how far they are willingto
take this position. Ideas are obviously important, but the world is
composed of many economic, technological, and other powerful con-
straints that limit the wisdom and practicality of certain ideas and
social constructions. Any theory that seeks to understand the world
must, as do liberalism, Marxism, and realism, seek to integrate both
ideas and material forces.
One of the key ideas in constructivist analysis of international af-
fairs is the idea of identity, or how a society defines itself; for exam-
ple, whether a society is democratic or authoritarian in nature affects
its behavior. Accordingto constructivists, realists neglect the impor-
tance of identity and focus only on material interests and power con-
siderations. In some cases, this criticism is valid. In general, realists do
stress “interest” over “identity.” However, many state-centric realists
recognize the importance of identity in state behavior; for example,
the nature of the domestic political system. As I have already men-
tioned, I myself emphasize the importance of the national system of
political economy in determiningthe economic behavior of individual
states. Whether a national society defines itself as a stakeholder (e.g.,
Germany or Japan) or a shareholder (Great Britain or the United
States) economy, the type of economy has a significant impact on its
economic behavior.
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