FROM REALISM TO CONSTRUCTIVISM: THE SHIFTING PARADIGMS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY
Abstract
The discipline of International Relations (IR) has been a graveyard of theoretical paradigms. Each attempting to entomb the other in a perpetual struggle for intellectual hegemony. For decades, the landscape was dominated by the state-centric, power-political paradigm of Realism. Its narrative of anarchy, material power, and the inevitability of conflict provided a compelling, if grim, explanation for the recurrent tragedies of world politics. However, the constructed nature of this narrative itself remained largely unchallenged. This paper expostulates that the subsequent shift towards Constructivism represents not merely an additive theoretical process, but a profound epistemological rupture. It is a move from a positivist understanding of international politics as a realm of objective, material forces to a post-positivist conception of it as a socially constructed realm of inter-subjective beliefs, norms, and identities. Deviating from the conventional linear history of IR theory, this paper argues that the Realist paradigm, while powerful in explaining continuity, suffers from a foundational detachment from the empirical reality of systemic change and the endogenous nature of state interests. The Constructivist revolution, therefore, is by far a more significant development for understanding the complex tapestry of global politics, yet its adoption is not without its own security dilemmas for policy-makers accustomed to the certitudes of material power. This research paper takes a cursory examination of the implications and challenges that ensue from this paradigmatic shift, arguing that the failure to appreciate the socially constructed nature of international politics has led to profound policy failures, much like the misguided counternarcotics templates imposed on Afghanistan.
Keywords:Â International Relations Theory, Realism, Constructivism, Anarchy, Social Construction, Epistemology.
