Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations

Examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms at the intersection between international relations and international law.

Antje Wiener (Author)

9781316620632, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 January 2020

277 pages, 1 b/w illus. 9 tables
23 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

'… this is an extremely interesting and worthwhile read for anyone seeking a better understanding of norm cycles and change within the international system … This book will be of particular interest to scholars whose research stands at the intersection of international relations and international law … this book has important implications for our current thinking on the subject and related issues of constituent power, legal autonomy, cosmopolitan democracy and the legitimation of global institutions.' Garrett Wallace Brown and Sagar S. Deva, International Affairs

Antje Wiener examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms such as fundamental rights and the prohibition of torture and sexual violence. Providing accounts of local interventions made on behalf of those affected by breaches of norms, she identifies the constraints and opportunities for stakeholder participation in a fragmented global society. The book also considers cultural and institutional diversity with regard to the co-constitution of norm change. Proposing a clear framework to operationalize research on contested norms, and illustrating it through three recent cases, this book contributes to the project of global international relations by offering an agency-centred approach. It will interest scholars and advanced students of international relations, international political theory, and international law seeking a principled approach to practice that overcomes the practice-norm gap.

1. Whose practices count?
2. Norms lie in the practice
3. Normative structures and rules of engagement
4. Transformative power: framing the co-constitution of normative change
5. Making fundamental rights a global issue: the Kadi case and contested 'moral responsibility'
6. Bringing on the torture convention: the Rumsfeld case and contested 'universal jurisdiction'
7. Putting violence against women during wartime onto the global agenda: Resolution 1325 and the contested 'culture of impunity'
8. A voice through the practice.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], United Nations & UN agencies [JPSN1], International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA]