Alexander Wendt

Alexander Wendt ( born June 12, 1958 in Mainz ) is a German - American political scientist. He is considered one of the founders and most important representative of constructivism in the Theory of International Relations.

Career

Wendt's German -American family moved two years after its birth in the United States. From 1977-1982 Wendt studied at Macalester College in St. Paul ( Minnesota) Political Science and Philosophy. A seven-year doctoral studies completed his studies. At the University of Minnesota was his doctoral supervisor Raymond Duvall, who could inspire him for a study of social theory.

Since 2004 he is Mershon Professor of International Security in the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University with a focus on " Theory of International Relations ", " Philosophy of the Social Sciences" and "international organizations ".

Previous stages of his career were the University of Chicago (1999-2004: Associate Professor, Department of Political Science ), Dartmouth College (1997-1999: Associate Professor, Department of Government ) and Yale University (1995-1997: Associate Professor, 1989-1995: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science ).

Theoretical Approach

With his much-publicized and discussed essay in 1992 in the journal International Organization 46.2: " Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics" Wendt founded the structural constructivism in political science.

Citing liberal theories, he attacked the neo-realist paradigm, in an anarchic state, states would be able to cooperate only in exceptional cases, as they generally acted selfish and only interested in their own safety. Wendt argued that the actions of states would not only of " structures " but also of " processes " ( interact and learn ) influences. In learning and interaction processes states are thus able not only to change their behavior, but also their identities and interests. Thus, states are able to cooperate with each other, just as they are able to act selfishly. He tried the interests and identities of actors ( ie the States) in his model of endogenous structural constructivism to explain.

This " social theory," which tried to explain interests and identities of actors, Wendt Nicholas Onuf called following " constructivism " and led them for the first time in international relations. His theory was given the dramatic changes in the international system in the late 1980s, so the end of the Cold War.

"My objective in this article is to build a bridge in between two traditions thesis [ neorealism vs. Neoliberalism ] (... ) by Developing a constructivist argument, drawn from symbolic interactionist sociology structurationist and, on behalf of the liberal international institutions did claimsoft can transform state identities and interests. In contrast to the "economic " theorizing did dominates mainstream systemic international scholarship, this Involves a " sociological social psychological " form of systemic theory in Which identities and interests are the dependent variable. "

Writings

Monograph

• Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-46960-0

Article

• "The agent -structure problem- in international relations theory" in International Organization, vol. 41, no 3, 1987.
• " Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics" in International Organization, vol. 46, no 2, 1992.
• " The Difference did Realism Makes: . Social Science and the Politics of Consent" (with Ian Shapiro ) in Politics and Society 20:197-223, 1992
• " Dependent State Formation and Third World Militarization " ( with Michael Barnett ) in Review of International Studies, 19, 321-347. , 1993
• " Collective identity formation and the international state" in American Political Science Review, vol. 88, no 2, 1994.
• " Hierarchy Under Anarchy: Informal Empire and the East German State" (with Daniel Friedheim ), International Organization, 49, 689-721, 1995
• "Constructing international politics" in International Security, vol. 20, no 1, 1995.
• "On Constitution and Causation in International Relations", Review of International Studies, 24 ( special issue ), 101-118, 1998
• " Driving with the rearview mirror: on the rational science of institutional design" International Organization, vol. 55, no 4, 2001
• " Why a world state is inevitable " in European Journal of International Relations, vol. 9, no 4, 2003.
• " The state as person in international theory" in Review of International Studies, vol. 30, no 2, 2004.
• " Sovereignty and the UFO" (with Raymond Duvall ) in Political Theory, Vol 36, No. 4, 607-633, 2008 Abstract.

Articles in Anthologies

• "Institutions and International Order", 1989 (with Raymond Duvall ) In Global Changes and Theoretical Challenges edited by E. Czempiel, and J. Rosenau. Lexington, Mass.:. Lexington Books.
• "The International System and Dependent Militarization ", 1992 ( with Michael Barnett ), in Brian Job, ed, The Insecurity Dilemma: National Security of Third World States, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, pp.. 97-119.
• " Norms, Identity and Culture in National Security ," 1996 ( with Ronald Jepperson and Peter Katzenstein ), in Katzenstein, ed, The Culture of National Security, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 33-75.
• "What is IR research: Notes Toward a Post- Critical View", Richard Wyn Jones 2000, ed, Critical Theory and World Politics, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, pp.. 205-224.
• " Rationalism v. Constructivism: A Skeptical View", 2002 ( with James Fearon ) In Handbook of International Relations, edited by W. Carlsnaes, T. cracks, and B. Simmons. London: Sage.
• " Social Theory 'as Cartesian Science: An Auto- Critique from a Quantum Perspective", 2006 In Constructivism and International Relations, edited by Stefano Guzzini and Anna Leander. London: Routledge.
• " Militant Agnosticism and the UFO Taboo " (with Raymond Duvall ), pp. 269ff, in: Leslie Kean: . UFOs - Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record. Harmony Books, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-307-71684-2.