Hello friends, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break and is feeling ready for all the finals and projects coming up as we enter the home stretch for first semester. I took the weekend off to enjoy time home with family (it was so nice being back home in Wisconsin) but now have to prepare for two presentations this week. I’m pretty nervous, so hoping things go well.
Regarding The Conquest of America, I feel like of the three theories we’ve discussed so far (realism, liberalism, constructivism), I most understand and relate to constructivism, however I also feel like I understand absolutely nothing. For me, given my experiences as a woman of color, understanding constructivism in terms of personal identity is very intuitive and relates to other classes I’ve taken and readings I’ve done. However “constructivism” as it informs international policy and systems is a lot more nebulous to me. I think a good distinction between the three is that while realism and liberalism are very concrete in principle and has specific actions associated with it, constructivism can be seen more as a mode of thinking in and of itself, rather than a prescribed set of policies and beliefs. Constructivism is a way of thinking and critically questioning systems and policies, but perhaps is not itself a system of policies. Regarding this, I have some questions that I posed to PTJ that others might also have their own opinions on:
In summary, I’ve got lots of questions and no answers, but I’m hoping to discuss these points with anyone that’s up for it!
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KateHi, I'm Kate! I'm from Madison, WI and am planning on majoring in SIS focusing on East-Asia China. I like practicing kung fu, listening to music, and drinking bubble tea. Archives
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