Jackson, Patrick and Daniel Nexon. "Constructivist Realism or Realist-Constructivism?". International Studies Review, Vol.6, No.2 (2004): 337-341.

Jackson, Patrick and Daniel Nexon. "Constructivist Realism or Realist-Constructivism?". International Studies Review, Vol.6, No.2 (2004): 337-341.

• This article is part of a series of short responses from respected members of the IR Theory community to a recent piece by Dr. Barkin entitled "Realist Constructivism". The article explores potential compatibility between the Constructivist and Realist theories of IR.
• The authors contest that the argument made in Dr. Barkin's article was that the idealism of Constructivist theory should be replaced with realist analysis, but that the inclusion of norms in analysis was also necessary. This new idea is not so much 'realist constructivism' as 'constructivist realism' because the social constructed nature of politics is still not considered by the new theory (338).
• The essential claim of the Constructivist school of international relations [IR] theory is that politics is based on socially constructed meanings and values, not material facts. Although no major contemporary school of IR theory disputes this entirely, both classical Realism and Liberalism claim that material factors are of overriding importance. Neorealists and Neoliberals argue that anarchy is the overriding factor above norms, something Constructivists dispute (338-339).
• Contemporary debates between the Neorealist and Neoliberal schools of IR theory concern whether power can be overcome, with Liberals arguing that under the right circumstances the influence of power differentials can be mitigated and Realists disagreeing (339).
• The split between Constructivism and other schools of IR theory is more difficult to determine, because most Constructivists agree with Liberal theorists that power can be overcome, but the presence of Realist-Constructivism proves that this is not necessarily true (339).
• The authors claim that the socially constructed nature of the international system in Constructivist theory means that Realist-Constructivism, which would hold that power cannot be overcome as an overriding factor, cannot exist because that relation is by theoretical constraints, socially constructed and therefore liable to change (340).
• A diluted form of Realist-Constructivism is theoretical possible, by which scholars claim that the social realities of the Realist world reinforce those norms and behaviors in a way that is impossible to practically overcome, but this is distinction from the claim that change is impossible (340).