Social Theory of International Politics

Author: (USA) Alexander Wendt
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Drawing on philosophical and sociological theories, the book Sociological Theory of International Politics develops a sociological constructivist theory of the international system. Alexander Wendt elaborates the central requirements of constructivist principles and proposes a worldview of constructivism relative to individualism and materialism—the dominant ontologies in contemporary international relations theory. He constructs a cultural theory of international politics, in which states—regardless of whether they perceive each other as enemies, competitors, or friends—become fundamental determinants. These different roles are constituted by distinct "anarchic cultures," as described by the three independent macro-level international political cultures of Hobbesian, Lockean, and Kantian nature. Anarchic culture is a shared idea controlled by states, influencing the meaning of state power and the content of state interests, and generating behavioral trends within the international system. This work describes four factors that drive the transition from one anarchic culture to another—interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint—and links them to the role played by capitalism and democracy in the rise of Kantian culture in the West.