NGOs as Norm Takers: Insider–Outsider Networks as Translators of Norms

Abstract

Not-for-profit non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often considered norm entrepreneurs, or norm carriers, that contribute to the spread of norms such as those prohibiting torture or violence against women—for example, in the context of transnational advocacy networks (TANs). However, their role as norm takers is rarely studied even though it deserves attention. Whether NGOs implement norms—either by carrying out related projects themselves or by monitoring norm compliance by other actors—or whether they promote norms and translate them for other actors, they must first internalize these norms themselves. In order to be considered internalized, norms must be “so widely accepted that they…achieve a ‘taken-for-granted’ quality that makes conformance with the norm almost automatic” (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998, 904). Norm internalization can be studied in terms of translation, assuming that new norms “have to fight their way into institutional thinking” whereby “[i]nitially reluctant actors are persuaded to incorporate the novel ideas into their mental world-views” (Elgstrom 2000, 458). Studying norm internalization within NGOs is a worthwhile and important endeavor. First, we cannot rely solely on existing studies of norm internalization within International Organizations (IOs) (Elgstrom 2000), because NGOs are a different type of organization. Their work is often based on moral grounds (Heins 2008, 1–14; Lang 2013, 12), and they value individual commitment and “personal moral enthusiasm” (du Gay, Salaman, and Rees 1996, 266). Therefore, changes affecting the constitutive principles of NGO action are often met with resistance within these organizations (Hopgood 2006). NGOs are not only “purposive actors with their own identities and interests” (Stroup 2012, 7), but also consist of different entities, located at different organizational levels, and have different interests and resources (Heyse 2013; Krause 2014; Suzuki 1998). Hence, support of and resistance to norms within NGOs can exist simultaneously, and the …