Description
Book SynopsisThis volume offers a study of when and why contested international norms decline. It includes four contemporary case studies (the torture prohibition, the responsibility to protect, the duty to prosecute institutionalized in the ICC, and commercial whaling) and two historical case studies (privateering and the transatlantic slave trade).
Trade ReviewThis timely study tests the limits of normative contestation. This team of scholars show that it is important to distinguish challenges to the application of a norm from those that challenge the very validity of the norm itself. The former may help to bring potential adherents onboard, while the latter is more likely to spell instability. This study makes an important contribution at a time when international norms seem besieged from the left and the right. * Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science and Business Ethics University of Pennsylvania *
International Norm Disputes unpacks the effects of international norm contestation, arguing that disputes over the application of norms can shift their content, but arguments over the validity of norms can undermine them. A striking finding, across six rich and nuanced case studies, is that the clustering of norms and their embeddedness in institutions that promote procedural fairness enhance norm robustness. The book offers an important advance in our understanding of international norm dynamics. * Wayne Sandholtz, John A. McCone Chair in International Relations, Professor of International Relations and Law, University of Southern California *
International Norm Disputes is the long-awaited summary of a decade of frontline research on the contestation of international norms. Combining theory development, in-depth case studies, and comparison, the book significantly advances our understanding of the normative robustness of the liberal international order. * Jonas Tallberg, Professor of Political Science University of Stockholm *
This book represents a major milestone in the study of norm contestations and norm robustness. The distinction between applicatory and validity contestations specifies the conditions under which challenges to international norms strengthen or weaken international institutions. A "must read!" at a time when the liberal international order faces deep contestations! * Thomas Risse, Director, Berlin International College of Research and Graduate Training Senior Professor, Cluster of Excellence "Contestations of the Liberal Script" Freie Universität Berlin *
Table of Contents1: Introduction: Contestation and the dynamics of norm robustness 2: The international torture prohibition: A contested norm endures 3: The responsibility to protect: A robust but changing norm? 4: Contesting the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling: A norm weakens at the international level 5: Losing Africa? Contestation and the decline in the ICC's regional robustness 6: Bad pirates, good privateers? The surprising robustness of privateering norms 7: The Atlantic slave trade: Stabilization through contestation 8: Norm disputes: Comparative insights for theory and practice Appendix: Coding schemes for applicatory and validity contestation
