{"id":733,"date":"2013-03-26T08:59:50","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T08:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rulesofreason.wordpress.com\/?p=733"},"modified":"2013-03-26T08:59:50","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T08:59:50","slug":"constructivism-in-the-world-of-dragons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=733","title":{"rendered":"Constructivism in the world of Dragons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here<\/a> is an analysis of Game of Thrones from a realist<\/strong> international relations perspective. Inevitably, here<\/a> is the response from a constructivist<\/strong> angle. These are supposed to be fun so I approached them with a light heart and popcorn. But halfway through the second article I actually felt sick to my stomach. I am not exaggerating, and it wasn’t the popcorn – seeing the same ‘arguments’ between realists and constructivists rehearsed in this new setting, the same lame responses to the same lame points, the same ‘debate’ where nobody ever changes their mind, the same dreaded confluence of normative, theoretical, and empirical notions that plagues this never-ending exchange in the real (sorry, socially constructed) world, all that really gave me a physical pain.\u00a0I felt entrapped – even in this\u00a0fantasy\u00a0world there was no escape from the Realist and the Constructivist.\u00a0The Seven Kingdoms were infected by the triviality of our IR theories. The magic of their world was desecrated. Forever….<\/p>\n

Nothing wrong with the particular analyses. But precisely because they manage to be good examples of the genres they imitate the bad taste in my mouth felt so real. So is it about interests or norms? Oh no<\/em>. Is it real politik or the slow construction of a common moral order? Do leader disregard the common folk to their own peril? Oh, please stop.<\/em> How do norms construct identities? Noooo moooore.<\/em> Send the Dragons!!!<\/em><\/p>\n

By the way, just one example of how George R.R. Martin can explain a difficult political idea better than an entire conference of realists and constructivists. Why do powerful people keep their promises? Is it ’cause their norms make them do it or because it is in their interests or whatever? Why do Lannisters always pay their debts even though they appear to be some the meanest self-centered\u00a0characterless\u00a0in the entire world of Game of Thrones? \u00a0We literally see<\/strong> the answer when Tyrion Lannister tries to escape from the sky cells, and the Lannister’s reputation for paying their debts is the only thing that saves him, the only thing he has left to pay Mord, but it is enough (see episode 1.6). Having a reputation for paying your debts is one of the greatest assets you can have in every world. And it is worth all the pennies you pay to preserve it even when you can actually get away with not\u00a0honoring\u00a0your\u00a0commitments. It could not matter less if you call this interest-based or norm-based explanation: it just clicks, but it takes creativity and insight to convey the point, not impotent meta-theoretical disputes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is an analysis of Game of Thrones from a realist international relations perspective. Inevitably, here is the response from a constructivist angle. These are supposed to be fun so I approached them with a light heart and popcorn. But halfway through the second article I actually felt sick to my stomach. I am not exaggerating, and it wasn’t the popcorn – seeing the same ‘arguments’ between realists and constructivists rehearsed in this new setting, the same lame responses to the same lame points, the same ‘debate’ where nobody ever changes their mind, the same dreaded confluence of normative, theoretical, and empirical notions that plagues this never-ending exchange in the real (sorry, socially constructed) world, all that really gave me a physical pain.\u00a0I felt entrapped – even in this\u00a0fantasy\u00a0world there was no escape from the Realist and the Constructivist.\u00a0The Seven Kingdoms were infected by the triviality of our IR theories. The magic of their world was desecrated. Forever…. Nothing wrong with the particular analyses. But precisely because they manage to be good examples of the genres they imitate the bad taste in my mouth felt so real. So is it about interests or norms? Oh no. Is it real politik or the slow construction of a common moral order? Do leader disregard the common folk to their own peril? Oh, please stop. How do norms construct identities? Noooo moooore. Send the Dragons!!! By the way, just one example of how George R.R. Martin can explain a difficult political idea better…<\/p>\n

Continue readingConstructivism in the world of Dragons<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20,24,44],"tags":[149,287,348,352,546,603,661,692],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7g3hj-bP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=116","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":0},"title":"Course on Research Design","date":"November 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am teaching again the Research Design class for the MSc in Public Administration at Leiden University. It is a rather challenging course since the\u00a0 background of the students is so diverse (from Religious Studies to Psychology to International Relations) and because most of the students have\u00a0very little\u00a0training and a\u00a0certain\u00a0dislike\u00a0for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Teaching"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":141,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=141","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":1},"title":"Organizing your library","date":"November 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally managed to organize all my printed articles into folders. Quite a tedious task, but maybe worth sharing my experience in more detail. First the background and the objective: I had probably around 400 printed journal articles, kind of sorted into piles and lying around my office threatening slowly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classification"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":689,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=689","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":2},"title":"Bureaucrats as Policy-makers","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Everyone loves bitching about bureaucrats but few know what it is exactly that they do. Ed Page's new book 'Policies without Politicians' provides plenty of insights. As I mention at the end of this book review, everyone who theorizes or\u00a0criticizes bureaucrats should read the book as a reality check. A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bureaucracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":963,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=963","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":3},"title":"What's a demockracy?","date":"December 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"- What\u2019s a democracy? - Democracy means that people rule and the government respects the opinions of the citizens. - So the government should do what the people want? - In principle, yes, but\u2026 - Can a majority of the people decide to abolish the parliament? - No, the basic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humour"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1041,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=1041","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":4},"title":"Books on public policy","date":"October 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a list of recommended books on public policy, including introductory textbooks and more advanced texts, including handbooks and books on more specific topics within the field of public policy analysis. Introductory textbooks: Knill, C., & Tosun, J. (2012).\u00a0Public policy: A new introduction. Macmillan International Higher Education. Howlett, M.,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "public policy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":839,"url":"http:\/\/re-design.dimiter.eu\/?p=839","url_meta":{"origin":733,"position":5},"title":"Why political scientists should continue to (fail to) predict elections?","date":"May 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The results from the British elections last week already claimed the heads of three party leaders. But together with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP, there was another group that lost big time in the elections: pollsters and electoral prognosticators. 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