Norm Disputes: Contestation and Norm Robustness
Is it possible for norms to collapse? Or do they simply change in form over time? These questions have garnered increasing attention in recent years. The liberal optimism from the 1990s, which assumed that fundamental norms had established themselves around the globe following the end of the Cold War, have seen themselves lastingly thrown into doubt in recent years. Even the most basic human rights norms have not been spared from attacks: conflict repeatedly erupts over international norms such as the ban on torture or the international responsibility to protect.
Contestation: A means of strengthening or weakening norms?
Research on the effects that conflict has on the robustness of norms, and whether contestation leads to their strengthening or weakening, has been equally contested as the norms themselves. While one theory posits that contestation intrinsically weakens norms, a competing theory identifies a normative force behind contestation that can strengthen the validity of norms through their continuous actualization.
The research project “Norm Disputes: Contestation and Norm Robustness” investigates which conditions lead norms to either be weakened or strengthened. We follow how processes of contestation unfold for four sets of highly disputed norms (the international responsibility to protect, the International Criminal Court, the ban on torture, the ban on commercial whaling) and contrast them with two cases in which norms completely eroded (slavery and privateering).
- International Norm Disputes | 2023
Zimmermann, Lisbeth / Deitelhoff, Nicole / Lesch, Max / Arcudi, Antonio / Peez, Anton (2023): International Norm Disputes. The Link Between Contestation and Norm Robustness, Oxford: Oxford University Press, https://global.oup.com/(...).
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- Contestation and norm change in whale and elephant conservation: Non-use or sustainable use? | 2021
Peez, Anton / Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2021): Contestation and norm change in whale and elephant conservation: Non-use or sustainable use?, in: Cooperation and Conflict, DOI: 10.1177/00108367211047138.
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- What’s in a name? Contestation and backlash against international norms and institutions | 2020
Deitelhoff, Nicole (2020): What’s in a name? Contestation and backlash against international norms and institutions, in: The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, DOI: 10.1177/1369148120945906.
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- Norms under Challenge: Unpacking the Dynamics of Norm Robustness | 2019
Deitelhoff, Nicole / Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2019): Norms under Challenge: Unpacking the Dynamics of Norm Robustness, in: Journal of Global Security Studies, 4:1, 2-17, https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article/4/1/2/5347906.
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- Things We Lost in the Fire: How Different Types of Contestation Affect the Robustness of International Norms | 2018
Deitelhoff, Nicole / Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2018): Things We Lost in the Fire: How Different Types of Contestation Affect the Robustness of International Norms, International Studies Review, 31.12.2018.
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- Unlocking the agency of the governed: contestation and norm dynamics | 2018
Zimmermann, Lisbeth / Deitelhoff, Nicole / Lesch, Max (2018): Unlocking the agency of the governed: contestation and norm dynamics, in: Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, 1–18, DOI: 10.1080/23802014.2017.1396912.
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- The International Criminal Court in Difficult Times: Challenges for the 16th Assembly of States Parties | 2017
Arcudi, Antonio (2017): The International Criminal Court in Difficult Times: Challenges for the 16th Assembly of States Parties, PRIF BLOG, 4.12.2017.
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- More for Less: The Interactive Translation of Global Norms in Postconflict Guatemala | 2017
Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2017): More for Less: The Interactive Translation of Global Norms in Postconflict Guatemala, in: International Studies Quaterly, DOI: 10.1093/isq/sqx044.
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- Praxistheorien und Normenforschung in den Internationalen Beziehungen – Zum Beitrag der pragmatischen Soziologie | 2017
Lesch, Max (2017): Praxistheorien und Normenforschung in den Internationalen Beziehungen – Zum Beitrag der pragmatischen Soziologie, in: diskurs, 1–23, www.diskurs-zeitschrift.de/(...).
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- Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof auf der Anklagebank | 2016
Arcudi, Antonio (2016): Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof auf der Anklagebank, HSFK-Report Nr. 11/2016, Frankfurt/M.
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- Die Responsibility to Protect im Kreuzfeuer der Kritik | 2016
Arcudi, Antonio (2016): Die Responsibility to Protect im Kreuzfeuer der Kritik. Zum Zusammenhang von Normkontestation und Normerosion, in: Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 23:2, 78–111, DOI: 10.5771/0946-7165-2016-2-78.
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- Between Banyans and battle scenes | 2016
Wolff, Jonas / Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2016): Between Banyans and battle scenes. Liberal norms, contestation, and the limits of critique, in: Review of International Studies, 42:3, 513–534, DOI: 10.1017/0260210515000534.
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- Nur ein Feigenblatt? | 2014
Lesch, Max (2014): Nur ein Feigenblatt? Deutschlands langer Weg zur Ratifikation der UN-Konvention gegen Korruption, HSFK-Standpunkte Nr. 7/2014, Frankfurt/M.
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