ABSTRACT
Jamie Frueh was one of my many gifted doctoral students at American University, in his case soon after I had published World of Our Making. As a matter of principle, I avoided recruiting students to Constructivism as if it were a cause – perhaps even more after World’s publication, both in the misguided belief that the book spoke for itself and because I had turned to what I then thought were unrelated interests. Students saw right through this pose, because Constructivism did seem fresh and relevant, especially to those came to IR out of a conviction that they could change the world. Jamie is a case in point. His passion for the people of South Africa animated his interest in what he came to call ‘identity labels.’
