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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, 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. In a recent survey Wendt was listed as one of the most influential scholars of international relations.
Biography Alexander Wendt was born in 1958, 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. Social Theory of International Politics Wendt's most influential work to date is Social Theory of International Politics (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. Wendt shares the fundamental premise of realists that the state system is in a situation of anarchy. However, he denies that anarchy alone is sufficient to determine a Hobbesian scenario of states competing against one another for survival. This challenges the central role given to the 'logic of anarchy' in neorealist scholarship. Indeed, Wendt claims there is no logic of anarchy per se. For Wendt, violent competition is only one of several possible outcomes of a state system under conditions of anarchy. Wendt reaches this conclusion by challenging neorealism's materialism, stressing the importance of ideas, norms, and culture. State interests, identities, and even the meaning of power itself are constituted by ideas. Thus, Wendt says, there is a sense in which Soviet and American ideas about the Cold War were the Cold War. In Social Theory of International Politics, the ideas which constitute interests and identities are said to be 'intersubjectively constituted'. They are the result of an ongoing process of state interactions. Thus, it is process, rather than structure which determines the nature of international politics. Though the state system may at times conform to realist descriptions of violent competition, this is not a necessary state of affairs, but a result of a process of social construction. Perhaps most importantly, by placing ideas, norms, and culture at the centre of his explanation of international politics, Wendt's theory has important implications for the possibility of progress in international politics. Contrary to neorealism's static materialist structuralism, Wendt's social theory bears on the 'tranformative potential' of international politics. His theory claims to reveal the potential for a more cooperative international relations. Monographs Articles Chapters in Edited Volumes Major Areas of Interest | ||||||||
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