Bourdieusian Structural Constructivism and State Identity. Rethinking Economic and Social Capital in International Relations

Project Report from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - International Politics - General and Theories, Bielefeld University (bghs), language: English, abstract: This study explores how Bourdieusian structural constructivism contributes to our understanding of state identity in international relations. While there has been a significant concentration of constructivism on the description and understanding of state identity, constructivist approaches still have not comprehensively answered all the controversial questions of structural theories.

The aim of the book, thus, is to improve understanding of state subjectivity and identity by means of Bourdieusian sociological approach, which provides a basis to form a middle-way between the structuralist and constructivist perspectives on the issues of identity and state. I test the applicability of Bourdieusian terminology in the fields of economic and social capital.

In order to illustrate the theoretical dabates of the research in a more comprehensive way, the chapters in this stage utilize distinctive methodological concepts of neoliberalism, democratisation and the developing state. Ultimately, the book determines how Bourdieusian structural constructivism improves the theory of international relations beyond the existing borders of constructivism.