Dependency theory (Kelsey Hunter, Week 5 Dialog)

After yesterday's lecture, not only did I have a much clearer understanding of Constructivism, but I also decided that I prefer the Constructivist approach to explaining the world system. It is a much more practical approach to understanding states' actions in my opinion because it sees the international system as dynamic and ever-changing. The idea of intersubjectivity of identity and the self and the other also appeals to me.

The aspect of IR that I enjoy the most is political economy, and within IPE I am interested in economic development. I think the reason I like Constructivism is because it reminds me of Dependency theory, a theory of why states are or are not developed. Dependency theory was the result of scholars in the global south. These scholars were trying to explain why the global south was not as developed as the post-industrial countries. The basic idea of Dependency theory is that there is the core and there are peripheries. The interaction between the core and the periphery is such that the core exploits the periphery by extracting raw materials, wealth, capital, and sometimes labor. The relationship between the core and peripheries will persist as long as the peripheries let it, as long as they interact with the core and accept their position of inferiority (this position existed even after colonialism ended- ie. countries that rely on exports of raw materials). So Dependency theory reminds me of Constructivism because the idea of intersubjectivity and the identity of states being defined by their interactions with other states seems to be a part of Dependency theory as well.