Jeffrey T. Checkel Discusses His Latest Research
BY ZEHRA ALTAYLI (IR/V)
What will be the focus and shape of future constructivist research in international relations and political science? Speaking at Bilkent University on Thursday and Friday last week, Jeffrey T. Checkel, professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University and a leading constructivist, discussed new research agendas for constructivism.
Constructivism, one of the major schools of thought in the discipline of international relations, assumes that international politics, just like the world we live in, is socially constructed. Constructivist studies therefore examine the role of rules, norms, discourses and identities in international politics.
In his talk on Thursday, Prof. Checkel outlined new areas of research for constructivism. He noted that while constructivist research tends to focus on "nicer aspects" of world politics, such as European identity, the approach is equally suited to producing knowledge on "hard issues." As an instance of this, Prof. Checkel's latest research examines civil war and the process of socialization of child soldiers.
While the Thursday lecture focused on the question of what to study, Prof. Checkel on Friday examined the issue of how to study, previewing his forthcoming book on process tracing, a method of study that dissects processes and mechanisms of social phenomena.
Jeffrey Checkel was invited to Bilkent as part of the seminar series Polity, Society and the World. Video recordings of past lectures can be accessed at video.bilkent.edu.tr