Alexander Wendt
Encyclopedia
Alexander Wendt is one of the core social constructivist
scholars in the field of international relations
. Wendt and scholars such as Nicholas Onuf
, Peter J. Katzenstein
, Emanuel Adler
, Michael Barnett
, Kathryn Sikkink, John Ruggie
, Martha Finnemore
, and others have, within a relatively short period of time, established constructivism
as one of the major schools of thought in the field. A 2006 survey of American and Canadian International Relations scholars ranks Wendt as first among scholars who have "been doing the most interesting work in international relations in recent years."
in West Germany, and read political science and philosophy at Macalester College
before receiving his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota
in 1989, studying under Raymond "Bud" Duvall. Wendt taught at Yale University
from 1989 to 1997, at Dartmouth College
from 1997 to 1999, at the University of Chicago
from 1999 to 2004, and is currently the Ralph D. Mershon Professor of International Security at the Ohio State University
. He is married to Jennifer Mitzen, also a member of the Ohio State political science faculty. He is currently working on two projects: arguing for the inevitability of a world state, and investigating the possible implications of quantum mechanics
for social science.
(Cambridge University Press, 1999), which builds on and goes beyond his 1992 article "Anarchy Is What States Make Of It". Social Theory of International Politics places itself as a response to Kenneth Waltz
's 1979 work, Theory of International Politics
, the canonical text of the neorealist school.
Constructivism in international relations
In the discipline of international relations, constructivism is the claim that significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially contingent, rather than inevitable consequences of human nature or other essential characteristics of world politics.-Development:Nicholas Onuf...
scholars in the field of international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
. Wendt and scholars such as Nicholas Onuf
Nicholas Onuf
Nicholas Onuf is one of the primary figures among Constructivists in international relations. His best known contribution to Constructivism is set out in World of Our Making . His approach is based on a continuum of performative language, rules and rule...
, Peter J. Katzenstein
Peter J. Katzenstein
Peter Katzenstein is the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. He was educated in his native Germany. Katzenstein has received degrees from the London School of Economics, Swarthmore College, as well as a Ph.D. from Harvard University...
, Emanuel Adler
Emanuel Adler
Professor Emanuel Adler is an academic at the University of Toronto. He currently holds the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Chair in Israel Studies in the department of Political Science and is associated with constructivism in international relations theory....
, Michael Barnett
Michael Barnett
Michael N. Barnett is a major constructivist scholar of international relations. His research has been in the areas of international organizations, international relations theory, and Middle Eastern politics. With Emanuel Adler, he reintroduced the concept of security community to international...
, Kathryn Sikkink, John Ruggie
John Ruggie
John Gerard Ruggie is the Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School...
, Martha Finnemore
Martha Finnemore
Martha Gail Finnemore is a prominent constructivist scholar of international relations, and a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. She is best known for her books: National Interests in International Society and The Purpose of Intervention...
, and others have, within a relatively short period of time, established constructivism
Constructivism in international relations
In the discipline of international relations, constructivism is the claim that significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially contingent, rather than inevitable consequences of human nature or other essential characteristics of world politics.-Development:Nicholas Onuf...
as one of the major schools of thought in the field. A 2006 survey of American and Canadian International Relations scholars ranks Wendt as first among scholars who have "been doing the most interesting work in international relations in recent years."
Biography
Alexander Wendt was born in 1958 in MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
in West Germany, and read political science and philosophy at Macalester College
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
before receiving his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in 1989, studying under Raymond "Bud" Duvall. Wendt taught at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
from 1989 to 1997, at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
from 1997 to 1999, at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
from 1999 to 2004, and is currently the Ralph D. Mershon Professor of International Security at the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. He is married to Jennifer Mitzen, also a member of the Ohio State political science faculty. He is currently working on two projects: arguing for the inevitability of a world state, and investigating the possible implications of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
for social science.
Social Theory of International Politics
Wendt's most widely cited work to date is Social Theory of International PoliticsSocial Theory of International Politics
Social Theory of International Politics is a book by Alexander Wendt. It explores the author's ideas on constructivism in international relations. The book was the winner of International Studies Association Best Book of the Decade Award 1991-2000...
(Cambridge University Press, 1999), which builds on and goes beyond his 1992 article "Anarchy Is What States Make Of It". Social Theory of International Politics places itself as a response to Kenneth Waltz
Kenneth Waltz
Kenneth Neal Waltz is a member of the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars of international relations alive today...
's 1979 work, Theory of International Politics
Theory of International Politics
Theory of International Politics is a 1979 international relations theory book, written by Kenneth Waltz that elaborated a new theory, the neorealist theory of international relations, and surpassed the cognitive limitations of the past...
, the canonical text of the neorealist school.
Books
- Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-46960-0
Articles
- "The agent-structure problem in international relations theory" in International OrganizationInternational OrganizationInternational Organization is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the entire field of international affairs. Subject areas include: foreign policies, international relations, international and comparative political economy, security policies, environmental disputes and resolutions,...
, 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 that 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 StudiesReview of International StudiesThe Review of International Studies is an academic journal on international relations and the journal of the British International Studies Association. The editor-in-chief is Kimberley Hutchings ....
, 19, 321-347., 1993 - "Collective identity formation and the international state" in American Political Science ReviewAmerican Political Science ReviewThe American Political Science Review is the flagship publication of the American Political Science Association and is the most prestigious journal in political science according to the ISI 2004 Journal Citation Report...
, vol. 88, no. 2, 1994. - “Hierarchy Under Anarchy: Informal Empire and the East German State” (with Daniel Friedheim), 'International OrganizationInternational OrganizationInternational Organization is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the entire field of international affairs. Subject areas include: foreign policies, international relations, international and comparative political economy, security policies, environmental disputes and resolutions,...
, 49, 689-721, 1995 - "Constructing international politics" in International SecurityInternational SecurityInternational Security is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of international and national security. It was founded in 1976 and is edited by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and published four times a year by MIT Press, both of Cambridge,...
, vol. 20, no. 1, 1995. - “On Constitution and Causation in International Relations,” 'Review of International StudiesReview of International StudiesThe Review of International Studies is an academic journal on international relations and the journal of the British International Studies Association. The editor-in-chief is Kimberley Hutchings ....
, 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 RelationsEuropean Journal of International RelationsThe European Journal of International Relations is the peer-reviewed journal of the European Standing Group on International Relations of the European Consortium for Political Research...
, vol. 9, no. 4, 2003. - "The state as person in international theory" in Review of International StudiesReview of International StudiesThe Review of International Studies is an academic journal on international relations and the journal of the British International Studies Association. The editor-in-chief is Kimberley Hutchings ....
, vol. 30, no. 2, 2004. - "Sovereignty and the UFO" with Raymond Duvall in Political Theory, vol. 36, no. 4, 2008
Chapters in Edited Volumes
- "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 For?: Notes Toward a Post-Critical View,” 2000 in Richard Wyn Jones, ed., 'Critical Theory and World Politics', Boulder: Lynne Rienner, pp. 205–224.
- "Rationalism v. Constructivism: A Skeptical View." 2002 (with James FearonJames FearonJames D. Fearon PhD is the Theodore and Francis Geballe Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Stanford University, known for his work on the theory of civil wars, international bargaining, war's inefficiency puzzle and audience costs.Fearon's work on...
) In 'Handbook of International Relations', edited by W. Carlsnaes, T. Risse, and B. Simmons. London: Sage. - "'Social TheorySocial theorySocial theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
' 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. - "Flatland: Quantum Mind and the International Hologram" 2010 In 'New Systems Theories of World Politics', edited by Mathias Albert, Lars-Erik Cederman and Alexander Wendt. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Major Areas of Interest
- International relations theoryInternational relations theoryInternational relations theory is the study of international relations from a theoretical perspective; it attempts to provide a conceptual framework upon which international relations can be analyzed. Ole Holsti describes international relations theories act as a pair of coloured sunglasses,...
- Philosophy of social sciencePhilosophy of social scienceThe philosophy of social science is the study of the logic and method of the social sciences, such as sociology, anthropology and political science...
- International organizationInternational organizationAn intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...