Constructivism's basic premise - that individuals and groups are shaped by their world but can also change it - may seem intuitively true. Yet this process-oriented approach can be more difficult to apply than structural or rational choice frameworks. Based on their own experiences and exemplars from the IR literature, well-known authors Audie Klotz and Cecelia Lynch lay out concepts and tools for anyone seeking to apply the constructivist approach in research. Written in jargon-free prose and relevant across the social sciences, this book is essential for anyone trying to sort out...

Constructivism's basic premise - that individuals and groups are shaped by their world but can also change it - may seem intuitively true. Yet this process-oriented approach can be more difficult to apply than structural or rational choice frameworks. Based on their own experiences and exemplars from the IR literature, well-known authors Audie Klotz and Cecelia Lynch lay out concepts and tools for anyone seeking to apply the constructivist approach in research. Written in jargon-free prose and relevant across the social sciences, this book is essential for anyone trying to sort out...

Defined by custom and treaty, and now increasingly embodied in charters, regulations, and resolutions of international organizations, does the existence of international law point to progress in humankind's capacity for moral conduct? Or does the lack of a discernible ethical foundation in either law or political action make progress impossible to define?

In Law and Moral Action in World Politics, the authors -- activists and scholars of international law and international relations -- pose these questions in new ways. Some adhere to a progressive reading of the law; others adopt a critical...

Defined by custom and treaty, and now increasingly embodied in charters, regulations, and resolutions of international organizations, does the existence of international law point to progress in humankind's capacity for moral conduct? Or does the lack of a discernible ethical foundation in either law or political action make progress impossible to define?

In Law and Moral Action in World Politics, the authors -- activists and scholars of international law and international relations -- pose these questions in new ways. Some adhere to a progressive reading of the law; others adopt a critical...

Interpreting International Politics addresses each of the major, "traditional" subfields in International Relations: International Law and Organization, International Security, and International Political Economy. But how are interpretivist methods and concerns brought to bear on these topics? In this slim volume Cecelia Lynch focuses on the philosophy of science and conceptual issues that make work in international relations distinctly interpretive. This work both legitimizes and demonstrates the necessity of post- and non-positivist scholarship. Interpretive approaches to the study of...

Interpreting International Politics addresses each of the major, "traditional" subfields in International Relations: International Law and Organization, International Security, and International Political Economy. But how are interpretivist methods and concerns brought to bear on these topics? In this slim volume Cecelia Lynch focuses on the philosophy of science and conceptual issues that make work in international relations distinctly interpretive. This work both legitimizes and demonstrates the necessity of post- and non-positivist scholarship. Interpretive approaches to the study of...