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Feminist constructivism is an international relations theory which builds upon the theory of constructivism. Feminist constructivism focuses upon the study of how ideas about gender influence global politics. [1] It is the communication between two postcolonial theories; feminism and constructivism, and how they both share similar key ideas in creating gender equality globally. [2]
Constructivism is a theory of knowledge which argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning through world interactions and ideas. Constructivists argue that international life is social, resulting from the ways people interact with each other (i.e. talk, follow norms, create rules, etc.). [3] While there are similarities, feminist constructivists view relationships of power differently than traditional constructivists. Power and gender are considered "integral elements in processes of construction," where as traditionalists believe power to be external. [3] Feminist constructivists argue that the lack of problematization research as a social process of construction is logically inconsistent "with an ontology of becoming." [3] They also believe that differences between men and women, other than anatomical differences, were constructed due to socialization and cultural training. [4] However, there are criticisms that take place between interactions of feminism with constructivism. [2] Many feminists do not agree with constructivism as an alternative middle ground due to most constructivists ignoring feminist literature and gender analysis. [2] It's also pointed out that constructivism lacks the tools to explain how gender and power in politics influence each other, due to the social construction of power being under theorized. [2]
Major critiques in the feminist presence of global politics have not received as much attention in the media, due to more attention being given to the arguments of environmentalists and labor issues at anti-trade rallies, as opposed to those of feminist ideologies. [5] However, some places were found to be very ambivalent towards anti-globalization, an example being women in India who weren't concerned with the demands that linked trade liberalization with the enforcement of work standards. [5]
Many dilemmas feminists observe is that there is some difficulty in measuring out the impact feminists had on international relations. [6] Feminist theory tends to reveal politics in every aspect of the research process, whether it's absence of action, silence of major concerns, oppression of feminist beliefs, and the power epistemology has on others preconceptions. [6] In order to change this, many researchers utilize feminist research ethic, the commitment to inquire how one inquires. [6] It involves being attentive to the power of knowledge, boundaries, marginalization, and silences, relationships and the power differentials between them, and the researcher's own situatedness. [6] Epistemology plays a significant role, in that the researcher must destabilize themselves from our system of thought that goes into distinguishing fact from belief, which then allows the researcher to be objective in their studies. [6] Another key component in feminist research ethic is boundaries, as in being attentive to them and their power to marginalize. [6] It may include inclusion and exclusion of boundaries, as well as breaking them down. [6] Having a feminist research ethic also requires the researcher to consider are relationships and how social, political, and economical actions are interrelated with other actions and lives. [6]
When women or other members of minority groups obtain a position of substantial power in society, they most likely will encounter trouble garnering compliance for the use of their powers. [7] This is primarily caused by the existing belief that gender is an institutionalized system of social practices for constituting males and females as different in socially significant ways and organizing inequalities in terms of those differences. [8] Expectation states theory states that gender is deep-seated within social hierarchy because the rules for gender systems that contain stereotypes are considered status beliefs, cultural schemas about the leadership position that are based on gender, race, ethnicity, education, or occupation. [8]
International relations (IR) are the interactions among sovereign states. The scientific study of those interactions is also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns all activities among states—such as war, diplomacy, trade, and foreign policy—as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), international legal bodies, and multinational corporations (MNCs). There are several schools of thought within IR, of which the most prominent are realism, liberalism and constructivism.
International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It seeks to explain behaviors and outcomes in international politics. The four most prominent schools of thought are realism, liberalism, constructivism, and rational choice. Whereas realism and liberalism make broad and specific predictions about international relations, constructivism and rational choice are methodological approaches that focus on certain types of social explanation for phenomena.
Social constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated, and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others. Like social constructionism, social constructivism states that people work together to actively construct artifacts. But while social constructivism focuses on cognition, social constructionism focuses on the making of social reality.
Constructivism is a view in the philosophy of science that maintains that scientific knowledge is constructed by the scientific community, which seeks to measure and construct models of the natural world. According to constructivists, natural science consists of mental constructs that aim to explain sensory experiences and measurements, and that there is no single valid methodology in science but rather a diversity of useful methods. They also hold that the world is independent of human minds, but knowledge of the world is always a human and social construction. Constructivism opposes the philosophy of objectivism, embracing the belief that human beings can come to know the truth about the natural world not mediated by scientific approximations with different degrees of validity and accuracy.
Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppression; and the relationships between power and gender as they intersect with other identities and social locations such as race, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, and disability.
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis, political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.
Standpoint theory, also known as standpoint epistemology, is a foundational framework in social theory that examines how individuals' unique perspectives, shaped by their social and political experiences, influence their understanding of the world. Standpoint theory proposes that authority is rooted in individuals' personal knowledge and perspectives and the power that such authority exerts.
Transnational feminism refers to both a contemporary feminist paradigm and the corresponding activist movement. Both the theories and activist practices are concerned with how globalization and capitalism affect people across nations, races, genders, classes, and sexualities. This movement asks to critique the ideologies of traditional white, classist, western models of feminist practices from an intersectional approach and how these connect with labor, theoretical applications, and analytical practice on a geopolitical scale.
Standpoint feminism is a theory that feminist social science should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women, as some scholars say that they are better equipped to understand some aspects of the world. A feminist or women's standpoint epistemology proposes to make women's experiences the point of departure, in addition to, and sometimes instead of men's.
The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory that holds that moral action centers on interpersonal relationships and care or benevolence as a virtue. EoC is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories that were developed by some feminists and environmentalists since the 1980s. While consequentialist and deontological ethical theories emphasize generalizable standards and impartiality, ethics of care emphasize the importance of response to the individual. The distinction between the general and the individual is reflected in their different moral questions: "what is just?" versus "how to respond?" Carol Gilligan, who is considered the originator of the ethics of care, criticized the application of generalized standards as "morally problematic, since it breeds moral blindness or indifference".
In international relations (IR), constructivism is a social theory that asserts that significant aspects of international relations are shaped by ideational factors. The most important ideational factors are those that are collectively held; these collectively held beliefs construct the interests and identities of actors.
Judith Ann Tickner is an Anglo-American feminist international relations (IR) theorist. Tickner is a distinguished scholar in residence at the School of International Services, American University, Washington DC.
Feminism is a broad term given to works of those scholars who have sought to bring gender concerns into the academic study of international politics and who have used feminist theory and sometimes queer theory to better understand global politics and international relations as a whole.
Feminist epistemology is an examination of epistemology from a feminist standpoint.
L. H. M. "Lily" Ling was a political theorist and scholar whose work focused around the theory of worldism within international relations. Much of her work draws from storytelling, the arts, and non-Western culture to present alternative versions of historical analysis of global affairs. She was Professor of International Affairs at The New School at the time of her death.
Feminist political theory is an area of philosophy that focuses on understanding and critiquing the way political philosophy is usually construed and on articulating how political theory might be reconstructed in a way that advances feminist concerns. Feminist political theory combines aspects of both feminist theory and political theory in order to take a feminist approach to traditional questions within political philosophy.
Feminist ethics is an approach to ethics that builds on the belief that traditionally ethical theorizing has undervalued and/or underappreciated women's moral experience, which is largely male-dominated, and it therefore chooses to reimagine ethics through a holistic feminist approach to transform it.
Feminist security studies is a subdiscipline of security studies that draws attention to gendered dimensions of security.
Feminist empiricism is a perspective within feminist research that combines the objectives and observations of feminism with the research methods and empiricism. Feminist empiricism is typically connected to mainstream notions of positivism. Feminist empiricism critiques what it perceives to be inadequacies and biases within mainstream research methods, including positivism.
Feminist philosophy of science is a branch of feminist philosophy that seeks to understand how the acquirement of knowledge through scientific means has been influenced by notions of gender identity and gender roles in society. Feminist philosophers of science question how scientific research and scientific knowledge itself may be influenced and possibly compromised by the social and professional framework within which that research and knowledge is established and exists. The intersection of gender and science allows feminist philosophers to reexamine fundamental questions and truths in the field of science to reveal how gender biases may influence scientific outcomes. The feminist philosophy of science has been described as being located "at the intersections of the philosophy of science and feminist science scholarship" and has attracted considerable attention since the 1980s.
