The New Constructivism in International Relations Theory

by David M. McCourt

In this engaging book, David M. McCourt makes the case for New Constructivist approaches to international relations scholarship. The book traces constructivist work on culture, identity, and norms within the historical, geographical, and professional contexts of world politics, and reflects on recent innovations in fields including practice theory, relationalism, and network analysis. Copiously illustrated with real-world examples from the rise of China and US foreign policy, it illuminates the processes by which international politics are built. This is both an accessible tour of Constructivism to date and a persuasive declaration for its continuing application and value.

224 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2023

Reviews

[Cynthia Wang]

I think this is a great resource as an intellectual history of Constructivism in IR. McCourt is rigorous in his representation of several moments in time, their main proponents, etc. I do not agree with one of his central arguments, which is that this new "practice-relational turn" should be part of what McCourt calls a "New Constructivism." I also don't see why these more recent relational sociology approaches should be treated as a unified movement that should identify with each other, much less with Constructivism.

I wasn't socialized in US IR, so I found the concerns very American (he doesn't pretend otherwise). Still, I cannot emphasize enough what a great resource this is - I'm thinking of assigning some passages to BA students.