Constructivism and Comparative Politics

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Arguing that comparative politics needs to incorporate the boundary crossing of other fields, engage with social theory and agent- structure debate, and incorporate interpretivist concerns, Green (political science and international relations, U. of Delaware) contends that a constructivist theory that looks at constructed communities of meaning can address the above concerns. He presents eight contributions that, between them, are equally devoted to theoretical issues and case studies. The case studies look at the role of the state in ethnic conflict; transnational flows and political legitimacy in Benin; identity and culture industry trade policy in the U.S., Canada, and Europe; and occidentalism and postwar German reconstruction. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)