CIAO DATE: 11/03

The State of International Relations Research and Perspectives in Germany

Gunther Hellmann, editor
August 2003

International Socialization: From an "Exhausted" to a Productive Research Program? by Frank Schimmelfennig

Abstract

After it had declined together with functionalist integration theory, international socialization has again become a central research issue in IR due to the rise of the constructivist research program and growing interest in processes of norm-guided change in international relations. The chapter examines the roots of the „new” research on international socialization as well as conceptual and theoretical issues it currently faces. It discusses problems of definition, distinction, and causal analysis and it distinguishes mechanisms of socialization and the conditions under which they operate and are successful. It then presents results of two German research projects on the democratic and human rights socialization of „Southern” and „Eastern” countries. It concludes that German research on international socialization is well integrated internationally, competitive, and innovative. However, it would benefit from a closer connection with general research on the domestic effects of international institutions.