Critical Theories and Approaches

Critical theories and approaches to international relations are useful forreevaluating commonly held views and beliefs. Marxism, feminism, andconstructivism offer alternative ways of understanding and assessing the role of international organizations in world affairs. Marxism, feminism, and constructivism can be seen as critical reactions to the putative universality of realism and the ethnocentrism of liberalism. Like the mainstream approaches, critical theory and approaches have philosophic origins and underlying assumptions that shape a particular kind of worldview.