Conclusion: The Space of Constructivism

In reprising the volume, in the conclusion I distil what is distinctive about the New Constructivism, and emphasize why it is imperative to pronounce the New Constructivism’s existence at the present time. I argue that Constructivism—Old and New—is best understood as a space for a certain kind of work in IR, work that takes the field’s scientific inclinations seriously while resolutely refusing to limit the nature of science to models imported from the natural sciences. Drawing on newer developments in sociology and cognate fields, the New Constructivism departs from the Old by foregrounding the relational and processual nature of social forms, their situatedness in temporally- and spatially-specific practical contexts. As a bridgehead to the broader historically and culturally sensitive social sciences, I emphasize the importance of keeping that space open vis-à-vis more scientistic approaches, on the one hand, and explicitly normative critical approaches, on the other.