PSC 2440: Final Exam questions with
complete solutions
Constructivism - correct answer ✔✔Constructivism questions the static material assumptions of
traditional IR theory and proposes instead a theory that emphasizes the social dimension of IR,
What we know about reality is a product of social context, discourse, and interaction with other
agents and our knowledge of reality is imbued with values and norms, Values, norms, and
language matter in terms of how actors interact with one another and the constraints they
generate on their own and one another's actions, International relations is a realm of mutual
constitution - actors make themselves, others, and the system through interaction
social construction - correct answer ✔✔Facts are social facts. They are given meaning through
their place in social contexts and the meaning attributed to them by actors involved in these
contexts and interactions
Identity and IR - correct answer ✔✔Emphasis on relational identities and their impact on self-
identity
Feminism - correct answer ✔✔Broad purpose of feminist IR theory is to include gender as a
central concept in international relations, Including gender allows for a focus on issues that have
been traditionally neglected or erased in the study of international relations, Feminist IR theory
is normative, in the sense that it seeks to address the problem of gender inequality and the
injustices generated by such inequality
the role of gender in IR and IR theory - correct answer ✔✔idea of socially constructed gender
roles, The status of women and their unequal position is not a matter of chance or the result of
a natural process, but the product of politics in a broad sense, arguing that the discipline
developed in such a way as to neglect or erase the challenges that women face
, Poststructuralism - correct answer ✔✔Begins with idea that understanding international politics
depends upon abstraction, representation, and interpretation, Rejects the foundationalism of
rationalist theory and rejects the subject/object distinction that positivism relies on
dominant narratives - correct answer ✔✔Dominant understandings of the world are both
arbitrary and non-arbitrary, Arbitrary in the sense that such understanding is one among many,
Non-arbitrary in the sense a particular narrative is linked to specific social and historical
contexts that have led to it becoming dominant
the construction of the international system - correct answer ✔✔emphasizes the radical
uncertainty of knowledge and posits that "truth" is not a fixed concept, but instead constantly
changes based on your cultural, political, social, and economic position in the world, Power is
repressive in the sense that it imposes boundaries and productive (disciplinary) in that it lends
to the materialization and reinforcing of inside/outside distinction, PS examines exclusion as
constitutive of subjectivity
Postcolonialism - correct answer ✔✔Seeks to explore the ways the history of colonialism
continues to impact IR, Critique of Eurocentrism, where Europe has historically served as the
normative referent for international relations theory, Conditions of the West have been taken as
global phenomena
Orientalism and its consequences for both theory and political practice - correct answer
✔✔Reinforces the colonial power relationship between West and East, Today, would reinforce
neo-imperialist relationships between West and East, the fact that a Westerner believes that
they can accurately represent the East is in itself an expression of authority and dominance
Green theory - correct answer ✔✔International Political Economy: Emphasizes global capitalism
as the main source of environmental exploitation, Normative approach: Examines how
institutions can be more responsive to environmental problems and place constraints on
capitalism, Four pillars of green theory: Ecological Responsibility, Social justice, Non-violence,
Grassroots democracy, first wave vs second
complete solutions
Constructivism - correct answer ✔✔Constructivism questions the static material assumptions of
traditional IR theory and proposes instead a theory that emphasizes the social dimension of IR,
What we know about reality is a product of social context, discourse, and interaction with other
agents and our knowledge of reality is imbued with values and norms, Values, norms, and
language matter in terms of how actors interact with one another and the constraints they
generate on their own and one another's actions, International relations is a realm of mutual
constitution - actors make themselves, others, and the system through interaction
social construction - correct answer ✔✔Facts are social facts. They are given meaning through
their place in social contexts and the meaning attributed to them by actors involved in these
contexts and interactions
Identity and IR - correct answer ✔✔Emphasis on relational identities and their impact on self-
identity
Feminism - correct answer ✔✔Broad purpose of feminist IR theory is to include gender as a
central concept in international relations, Including gender allows for a focus on issues that have
been traditionally neglected or erased in the study of international relations, Feminist IR theory
is normative, in the sense that it seeks to address the problem of gender inequality and the
injustices generated by such inequality
the role of gender in IR and IR theory - correct answer ✔✔idea of socially constructed gender
roles, The status of women and their unequal position is not a matter of chance or the result of
a natural process, but the product of politics in a broad sense, arguing that the discipline
developed in such a way as to neglect or erase the challenges that women face
, Poststructuralism - correct answer ✔✔Begins with idea that understanding international politics
depends upon abstraction, representation, and interpretation, Rejects the foundationalism of
rationalist theory and rejects the subject/object distinction that positivism relies on
dominant narratives - correct answer ✔✔Dominant understandings of the world are both
arbitrary and non-arbitrary, Arbitrary in the sense that such understanding is one among many,
Non-arbitrary in the sense a particular narrative is linked to specific social and historical
contexts that have led to it becoming dominant
the construction of the international system - correct answer ✔✔emphasizes the radical
uncertainty of knowledge and posits that "truth" is not a fixed concept, but instead constantly
changes based on your cultural, political, social, and economic position in the world, Power is
repressive in the sense that it imposes boundaries and productive (disciplinary) in that it lends
to the materialization and reinforcing of inside/outside distinction, PS examines exclusion as
constitutive of subjectivity
Postcolonialism - correct answer ✔✔Seeks to explore the ways the history of colonialism
continues to impact IR, Critique of Eurocentrism, where Europe has historically served as the
normative referent for international relations theory, Conditions of the West have been taken as
global phenomena
Orientalism and its consequences for both theory and political practice - correct answer
✔✔Reinforces the colonial power relationship between West and East, Today, would reinforce
neo-imperialist relationships between West and East, the fact that a Westerner believes that
they can accurately represent the East is in itself an expression of authority and dominance
Green theory - correct answer ✔✔International Political Economy: Emphasizes global capitalism
as the main source of environmental exploitation, Normative approach: Examines how
institutions can be more responsive to environmental problems and place constraints on
capitalism, Four pillars of green theory: Ecological Responsibility, Social justice, Non-violence,
Grassroots democracy, first wave vs second
