Norm Research in International Relations – serie

This book investigates whether so-called rogue states – assumed antagonists of a Western-liberal world order – could also act as norm entrepreneurs by championing the genesis and evolution of global norms. The author explores this issue by analyzing the arms control policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A comparison with the prototypical norm entrepreneur Sweden and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea – a notorious norm-breaker – reveals interesting insights for norm research: Apparently, norm entrepreneurship manifests itself in different degrees and phases of the norm life cycle. The finding that Iran indeed acts as a norm entrepreneur in some cases also sheds light on those factors that might account for the success or failure of norm advocacy. Lastly, the book offers a new perspective on “rogue states”, by not only regarding them as irrational antagonists of the current world order, but also as legitimate participants in a discourse on what the ruling order should look like. This book will appeal to scholars interested in critical norm research in international relations.“This book offers cutting-edge norm research, highlighting how norm-breakers can function as norm-makers."Maria Rost Rublee, Associate Professor of International Relations, Monash University (Australia)“So-called ‘rogue states’ are typically understood as norm breakers, but Carmen Wunderlich makes a persuasive conceptual case backed by empirical research that we need to consider the extent to which they are in fact norm entrepreneurs in their own right. In an era characterized by much concern over the status of liberal norms, this is a very timely study.”Richard Price, Department of Political Science, The University of British Columbia (Canada)"At a time when the world order is under pressure, this cutting-edge analysis of how dissatisfied states challenge existing global norms illuminates a topic crucialto understanding contemporary international relations."Nina Tannenwald, Director, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University (Rhode Island USA)

This book investigates whether so-called rogue states – assumed antagonists of a Western-liberal world order – could also act as norm entrepreneurs by championing the genesis and evolution of global norms. The author explores this issue by analyzing the arms control policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A comparison with the prototypical norm entrepreneur Sweden and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea – a notorious norm-breaker – reveals interesting insights for norm research: Apparently, norm entrepreneurship manifests itself in different degrees and phases of the norm life cycle. The finding that Iran indeed acts as a norm entrepreneur in some cases also sheds light on those factors that might account for the success or failure of norm advocacy. Lastly, the book offers a new perspective on “rogue states”, by not only regarding them as irrational antagonists of the current world order, but also as legitimate participants in a discourse on what the ruling order should look like. This book will appeal to scholars interested in critical norm research in international relations.“This book offers cutting-edge norm research, highlighting how norm-breakers can function as norm-makers."Maria Rost Rublee, Associate Professor of International Relations, Monash University (Australia)“So-called ‘rogue states’ are typically understood as norm breakers, but Carmen Wunderlich makes a persuasive conceptual case backed by empirical research that we need to consider the extent to which they are in fact norm entrepreneurs in their own right. In an era characterized by much concern over the status of liberal norms, this is a very timely study.”Richard Price, Department of Political Science, The University of British Columbia (Canada)"At a time when the world order is under pressure, this cutting-edge analysis of how dissatisfied states challenge existing global norms illuminates a topic crucialto understanding contemporary international relations."Nina Tannenwald, Director, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University (Rhode Island USA)

The European Union's foreign policy and its international role are increasingly being contested both globally and at home. At the global level, a growing number of states are now challenging the Western-led liberal order defended by the EU. Large as well as smaller states are vying for more leeway to act out their own communitarian principles on and approaches to sovereignty, security and economic development. At the European level, a similar battle has begun over principles, values and institutions. The most vocal critics have been anti-globalization movements, developmental NGOs, and populist political parties at both extremes of the left-right political spectrum. This book, based on ten case studies, explores some of the most important current challenges to EU foreign policy norms, whether at the global, glocal or intra-EU level. The case studies cover contestation of the EU's fundamental norms, organizing principles and standardized procedures in relation to the abolition of the death penalty, climate, Responsibility to Protect, peacebuilding, natural resource governance, the International Criminal Court, lethal autonomous weapons systems, trade, the security-development nexus and the use of consensus on foreign policy matters in the European Parliament. The book also theorizes the current norm contestation in terms of the extent to, and conditions under which, the EU foreign policy is being put to the test.

The European Union's foreign policy and its international role are increasingly being contested both globally and at home. At the global level, a growing number of states are now challenging the Western-led liberal order defended by the EU. Large as well as smaller states are vying for more leeway to act out their own communitarian principles on and approaches to sovereignty, security and economic development. At the European level, a similar battle has begun over principles, values and institutions. The most vocal critics have been anti-globalization movements, developmental NGOs, and populist political parties at both extremes of the left-right political spectrum. This book, based on ten case studies, explores some of the most important current challenges to EU foreign policy norms, whether at the global, glocal or intra-EU level. The case studies cover contestation of the EU's fundamental norms, organizing principles and standardized procedures in relation to the abolition of the death penalty, climate, Responsibility to Protect, peacebuilding, natural resource governance, the International Criminal Court, lethal autonomous weapons systems, trade, the security-development nexus and the use of consensus on foreign policy matters in the European Parliament. The book also theorizes the current norm contestation in terms of the extent to, and conditions under which, the EU foreign policy is being put to the test.

This book examines the implementation of, the spread of, and compliance with emerging global norms. Based on empirical country studies on the implementation of transparency norms defined by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a multi-stakeholder process seeking to promote global standards for the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources –, it investigates the various factors and motivations affecting actors with regard to norm compliance. The book demonstrates that compliance with global norms depends on a combination of various factors, including motivations and conditions for introducing norms into the domestic political space; local actors’ level of commitment to the norm; and their capacity for norm compliance. Given its scope, the book will appeal to all international relations scholars interested in processes of norm localisation, compliance, and contestation.

This book examines the implementation of, the spread of, and compliance with emerging global norms. Based on empirical country studies on the implementation of transparency norms defined by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a multi-stakeholder process seeking to promote global standards for the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources –, it investigates the various factors and motivations affecting actors with regard to norm compliance. The book demonstrates that compliance with global norms depends on a combination of various factors, including motivations and conditions for introducing norms into the domestic political space; local actors’ level of commitment to the norm; and their capacity for norm compliance. Given its scope, the book will appeal to all international relations scholars interested in processes of norm localisation, compliance, and contestation.

Grappling specifically with the norm of sovereignty as responsibility, the book seeks to advance a critical constructivist understanding of norm development in international society, as opposed to the conventional – or liberal – constructivist (mis)understanding that still dominates the debate. Against this backdrop, the book delves into the institutionalization of sovereignty as responsibility within the lived practice of the International Criminal Court (ICC). More to the point, the proposed exploration intends to revive questions about the power-laden nature of the normative fabric of international society, its dis-symmetries, and its outright hierarchies, in order to devise an original framework to operationalize research on how – institutional – practice impinges on norm development. To this end, the book resorts to an original creole vocabulary, which combines the contributions of post-positivist constructivist scholars with the legacy of key post-modernist thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, as well as critical approaches to International (Criminal) Law and Post-Colonial Studies. The book will appeal to scholars of international relations and international law, in addition to critical scholars more broadly, as well as to practitioners in the fields of human rights and international justice interested in normative theory and the implementation and contestation of international social norms.

Grappling specifically with the norm of sovereignty as responsibility, the book seeks to advance a critical constructivist understanding of norm development in international society, as opposed to the conventional – or liberal – constructivist (mis)understanding that still dominates the debate. Against this backdrop, the book delves into the institutionalization of sovereignty as responsibility within the lived practice of the International Criminal Court (ICC). More to the point, the proposed exploration intends to revive questions about the power-laden nature of the normative fabric of international society, its dis-symmetries, and its outright hierarchies, in order to devise an original framework to operationalize research on how – institutional – practice impinges on norm development. To this end, the book resorts to an original creole vocabulary, which combines the contributions of post-positivist constructivist scholars with the legacy of key post-modernist thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, as well as critical approaches to International (Criminal) Law and Post-Colonial Studies. The book will appeal to scholars of international relations and international law, in addition to critical scholars more broadly, as well as to practitioners in the fields of human rights and international justice interested in normative theory and the implementation and contestation of international social norms.

This book explores norm diffusion in non-Western contexts. It analyzes how norms transfer and what mechanisms or sources of leverage facilitate their diffusion. The individual chapters follow an interdisciplinary framework that analyzes social norms beyond the theoretical tradition of international relations, and focus on particular cases of diffusion—both successful and unsuccessful—across the non-Western world. In this way, the book challenges existing perspectives and advances critical norm research that diversifies the agency of norm entrepreneurs beyond processes of norm localization. It makes a twofold contribution—by deepening our theoretical understanding of norms and their dynamics and by broadening the geographical scope of norms research.

This book explores norm diffusion in non-Western contexts. It analyzes how norms transfer and what mechanisms or sources of leverage facilitate their diffusion. The individual chapters follow an interdisciplinary framework that analyzes social norms beyond the theoretical tradition of international relations, and focus on particular cases of diffusion—both successful and unsuccessful—across the non-Western world. In this way, the book challenges existing perspectives and advances critical norm research that diversifies the agency of norm entrepreneurs beyond processes of norm localization. It makes a twofold contribution—by deepening our theoretical understanding of norms and their dynamics and by broadening the geographical scope of norms research.

This book analyses the complex dynamics of international norm contestation and explores how norms adapt and withstand challenges in different settings. Examining the interplay between various types of contestation, norm robustness, and the resilience of norm clusters, it sheds light on what the authors define as ‘contestation in prism’. The book thus presents norm contestation as a multifaceted process with far-reaching implications. In this context, it further discusses different conceptions of contestation, ranging from reactive vs. proactive contestation and applicatory vs. validity contestation, to inadvertent, i.e. interpretive vs. deliberate contestation. It then develops a theoretical model that links contestation ‘in prism’ with studies of norm clusters, or norms that are embedded in broader normative structures and interwoven with other normative meanings. Based on a strong theoretical framing, the book presents in-depth analyses of norm contestation in areas such as regional organizations, nuclear non-proliferation, norms relating to atrocities, and international criminal law. Offering multifaceted perspectives on norm evolutions and their implications, this contribution will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of international relations and related disciplines, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of contestation and norm cluster resiliency.

This book analyses the complex dynamics of international norm contestation and explores how norms adapt and withstand challenges in different settings. Examining the interplay between various types of contestation, norm robustness, and the resilience of norm clusters, it sheds light on what the authors define as ‘contestation in prism’. The book thus presents norm contestation as a multifaceted process with far-reaching implications. In this context, it further discusses different conceptions of contestation, ranging from reactive vs. proactive contestation and applicatory vs. validity contestation, to inadvertent, i.e. interpretive vs. deliberate contestation. It then develops a theoretical model that links contestation ‘in prism’ with studies of norm clusters, or norms that are embedded in broader normative structures and interwoven with other normative meanings. Based on a strong theoretical framing, the book presents in-depth analyses of norm contestation in areas such as regional organizations, nuclear non-proliferation, norms relating to atrocities, and international criminal law. Offering multifaceted perspectives on norm evolutions and their implications, this contribution will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of international relations and related disciplines, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of contestation and norm cluster resiliency.