State identity formation in constructivist security studies: A suggestive essay

Cho, Young Chul (2012) State identity formation in constructivist security studies: A suggestive essay. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 13 (3). pp. 299-316. ISSN 14740060

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Abstract

Although any typology of constructivism might be arbitrary, there are, broadly speaking, two distinctive constructivist approaches in security studies as well as International Relations (IR) according to their different meta-theoretical stances: conventional constructivism, on the one hand, and critical constructivism on the other. Indeed, regarding how to understand state identity which is integral to national security, there has meta-theoretically been fierce contention between conventional and critical constructivist security studies. In not ignoring but slightly toning down this contention operating at the abstract level, this article aims to present a pragmatic application of the two different (or conflicting) constructivisms to capturing a more complete picture of state identity formation in substantive empirical research of constructivist security studies. The pragmatic approach is that, without being immersed heavily in the meta-theoretical strife between the two seemingly conflicting constructivist camps, both constructivisms should be treated as different analytical frameworks for examining different (internal and external) faces of state identity formation: the external construction of state identity can be well addressed by conventional constructivism, while the internal one by critical constructivism. In this sense, the relationship between conventional and critical constructivism can be understood as not conflicting but complementary in empirical research, as both constructivisms enrich and deepen our understanding of state identity formation in different ways.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: National Security | Arbitrary | Security Studies | International Relations
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > International Relations
Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Political Science
JGU School/Centre: Jindal School of International Affairs
Depositing User: Mr Sombir Dahiya
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2022 09:51
Last Modified: 01 Mar 2022 09:51
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109912000114
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/1426

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