Description: International Relations in a Constructed World explores the application of constructivist theory to international relations. Instead of beginning with the historical evolution and anatomy of the system of sovereign states, constructivists proceed from an understanding of rules and human agency. This alternative approach returns human beings to a central place in international relations, and practice to a necessary place in theory. This book makes accessible -- perhaps for the first time -- the insights of constructivism and their place in the field of international relations. It explores the relevance of constructivism for empirical research, focusing on some of the key issues of contemporary international politics: ethnic and national identity, gender, political economy, and the emerging information age. The book also considers the implications of constructivism for teaching International Relations, placing the "agent-structure" debate in the classroom and recognizing that teaching is itself a means of transmitting social constructions.

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