Friedrich Kratochwil


Friedrich Kratochwil is a German university professor who studied at the University of Munich before migrating to the United States, then subsequently returning to Europe. He received a PhD from Princeton University.
He is one of the main representatives of constructivism in international relations. Central to his work is the conceptualization of language as action. Language is closely related to norms and rules that produce inter-subjective meanings that allow players in international relations to act socially.

History

Kratochwil was born in Lundenburg. After graduating in 1963 from the humanistic Maximiliansgymnasium in Munich, he studied philosophy, history and political science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. He received in 1969 his university degree in International Relations from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. In 1976, he received his doctorate from Princeton University in political science with a focus on international relations.
Kratochwil taught at American universities in Princeton, Columbia, Pennsylvania and at the European University Institute in Florence. Until 2003, Friedrich Kratochwil was Professor of International Politics at the Geschwister Scholl Institute of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich.
One of his famous books is Rules, Norms and Decisions, introducing constructivism to the discipline, a landmark study in the discipline of international relations.
He has been the editor of the European Journal of International Relations and member of the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, International Studies Quarterly, International Organization, World Politics, and member of the editorial advisory board of.

Books