Power, Realism and Constructivism

by Stefano Guzzini

Overview

Winner of the 2014 International Studies Association Theory Section Book Award

Framed by a new and substantial introductory chapter, the book collects Stefano Guzzini’s research on power, realism and constructivism. It explores the diversity of different schools and their intrinsic tensions and fallacies by analysing both theories and their assumptions, and theorists following their intellectual paths. Guzzini’s approach to the analysis of power – within and outside International Relations – provides the common theme of the book through which the theoretical state of the art in International Relations is re-assessed.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international politics, international relations theory and constructivism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415663045
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	New International Relations
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Stefano Guzzini is Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and Professor in the Department of Government at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Power 1. Structural Power: The Limits of Neorealist Power Analysis 2. The use and misuse of power analysis in international theory 3. From (alleged) unipolarity to the decline of multilateralism? A power-theoretical critique 4. Constructivism and International Relations: an analysis of Niklas Luhmann’s conceptualisation of power 5. Power analysis in Bourdieu Part II: Realism 6. The enduring dilemmas of realism in International Relations 7. The Different Worlds of Realism in International Relations 8. Foreign Policy without diplomacy: the Bush administration at a crossroads 9. Robert Gilpin: A Realist Quest for the Dynamics of Power 10. Strange’s oscillating realism: opposing the ideal - and the apparent Part III: Constructivism 11. A reconstruction of constructivism in International Relations 12. The concept of power: a constructivist analysis 13. 'The Cold War is what we make of it’: when peace research meets constructivism in International Relations 14. Wendt’s constructivism: a relentless quest for synthesis’ with Anna Leander 15. Imposing coherence: the central role of practice in Friedrich Kratochwil’s theorising of politics, international relations and science Epilogue: The significance and roles of teaching theory in International Relations

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Stefano Guzzini's range, cogency and sympathetic relation to his interlocutors are in full display in this collection of his best work. Best is best. For my money, Guzzini is the best straight-on IR theorist of his generation." - Nicholas Onuf, Professor Emeritus of Florida International University in Miami, USA.

Editorial Reviews

"Stefano Guzzini's range, cogency and sympathetic relation to his interlocutors are in full display in this collection of his best work. Best is best. For my money, Guzzini is the best straight-on IR theorist of his generation." - Nicholas Onuf, Professor Emeritus of Florida International University in Miami, USA.

'The volume is a great overview of [Guzzini's] thinking, and necessary reading for anyone interested in any of the three themes, let alone their intersection.' - Samual Barkins, University of Massachusetts, USA

From the Publisher