Norm Life Cycle Research Articles

Localization of Social Distancing Norm to Combat Covid -19 Pandemic in Indonesia

The purpose of this research is to explore the localization of social distancing norm in Indonesia during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has spread globally, affecting many aspects of human life. WHO, as a world health authority, encourages the implementation of social distancing norm to prevent the spread of Covid-19. However, countries around the world use various strategies to implement social distancing, such as lockdowns or social restrictions. Using Finnemore and Sikkink's norm life cycle and Amithav Acharya's norm localization, this article finds that the internalization and localization of social distancing norm in Indonesia are carried out through four efforts: determining the Covid-19 pandemic as a national disaster, forming a task force for the acceleration of Covid-19 countermeasures, and establishing social restriction policies through the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) and the Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) policies and socializing new habits such as maintaining distance and using masks. The localization of the social distancing norm is influenced by the domestic situation and the local norm of helping each other which is implemented through various movements such as jaga tangga, 3N1, canthelan, etc.

The Tension within Norms: Agency and Risks in Pursuit of Global Climate Justice

Abstract How can IR theory capture both the possibilities of agency for historically underrepresented groups and the limitations that different social struggles present for them? This paper proposes a framework based on relational approaches, decolonial perspectives, and the concept of “tension” between possibilities and risks of agency to analyze the dynamics of norm emergence and circulation. It builds on, but moves beyond, constructivist analyses of the norm life cycle and adopts a relational and decolonial lens in order to probe normative agency and its consequences within the context of international negotiations. Focusing on constructivist theories of socialization with multiple feedback effects, the paper calls for a fourth agentic turn in the study of norms and their genealogy and offers an analytical and empirical roadmap to chart a more complex scenario of co-constitution for norms. The paper refers to the case of climate justice to illustrate, empirically, the importance of employing the concept of tension to unveil agentic moments in norm circulation, while also highlighting, theoretically, the risks and limitations that are present in meanings that continue to reinforce colonial legacies.

The ‘asean Way’ of Women, Peace and Security: Norm Rhetoric or Implementation?

Abstract Women, peace and security (wps) is a global normative agenda that seeks to address the vulnerability and victimization of women in armed conflict situation and recognize their agency to transform post-conflict societies. In over two decades, various international institutions, states, and transnational and domestic civil society groups have taken on various initiatives to advance wps through international policy frames, regional commitments, and national operationalization. In Southeast Asia, even though women’s human rights have gained traction in the region through cross-cutting issues on gender equality and violence against women, not much has been said in the context of these in armed conflict and peacebuilding situations. In fact, to date, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) was the latest regional body to have adopted a framework for action on wps. This study uses the norm life cycle model to explain the emergence and cascade of wps in the asean and explains the challenges to the internalization of the norm in the region.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN UN PEACE OPERATIONS

As human rights norms increased in importance in the international system, the Protection of Civilians (POC) doctrine became the center of gravity in modern Peace Operations (PO), generating new organizational and structural demands on the United Nations (UN), on other international organizations, and on countries that contribute with troops and police (T/PCC). Can POC be understood as a “graft” onto a broader human rights norm? Has POC doctrine become institutionalized? Has the POC norm “cascaded?” Finally, how can we best observe the POC “cascade” and evaluate its effects on the success of peace missions? This article attempts to answer these questions from the perspective of norm evolution or norm life cycle theory, in dialogue with existing more institutionalist and technical as well as political conversations about the successes and failures of peace missions. Our method is a medium-N study of the evolution of PO mandates and reform processes since 1945. We focus on nine missions and three key reform documents (, (the Brahimi report of 2000, the High Independent Panel Peace Operations [HIPPO] report of 2015 and the Action for Peacekeeping [A4P] Initiative of 2019) and find that POC has followed a path consistent with the “life cycle” approach of international norms. To fully determine the extent to which POC has “cascaded” as an independent norm, we argue that it is essential to pay close attention to the boundaries between the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of peace operations. In particular, actors at the operational level play the crucial role of decodifying POC for forces who implement tactics on the ground.

Cyber Diplomacy under Increased Competition Between the Great Powers

The fragmentation of the Internet, which has replaced information globalization, is becoming a new reality. Digital technologies and the Internet are becoming a field of new geopolitical contradictions and a struggle for leadership between the great powers. Cyber diplomacy, which includes a range of issues of using ICT to achieve the foreign policy goals of the state, as well as new problematic and subject areas of international relations arising in connection with digitalization, is the most important tool for interstate competition and conflicts, as well as a means of conducting information wars.At the international level, there are no internationally recognized norms governing the development and use of digital tools in the framework of foreign policy, interstate competition or confrontation. It becomes especially important to develop rules for the responsible behavior of states in the global information space. Methodologically, the article is based on the theory of the life cycle of norms. According to this approach, norms are social standards that regulate the behavior of states in a certain area of international relations. At present, there has been a rejection of the norms of the global Internet, which has been promoted by the United States for a long time, free from state borders. A set of norms has been formed in the field of responsible behavior of states in the ICT environment, enshrined in the documents of the UN, regional organizations and other international forums. However, the directions of their development and practical application remain the subject of interstate discussions, in view of the high significance of this problem and the differences in the interests and approaches of states.

Assessing South Korea's Compliance with Global Norms on Development Cooperation

Over the last f ive decades, the UN and OECD/DAC have strongly urged member states to comply with global aid norms to improve aid effectiveness. To what extent are the global aid norms actually put in practice in countries that have pledged themselves to comply with these norms? Norm life cycle theory explains the internalization of global norms as legalization, institution-building, and official policies at the national level. This study supplements the norm lifecycle theory by subdividing the process of norm internalization into the policy formation stage and the post-implementation stage at the national level and empirically examines it by employing five criteria: ODA/GNI ratio; aid to LDCs; the ratio of grant to loan; aid-untying; and fragmentation. The results show that some aid norms are well accepted and implemented at both stages while other norms are neither addressed in official aid policies nor put into practice.

The Internalization of Anti-Racial Discrimination Norm in the United States of America

This article discusses the reasons why racial discrimination against African-Americans persists in the United States of America in this 21st century. This study applies an explanatory qualitative approach and a literature study data collection. By using the concept of the norm life cycle by Kathryn Sikkink and Martha Finnemore, this study argues that the internalization of anti-racial discrimination norms in the United States (U.S.), especially adopted from the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), has not been fully completed. This research analyzes three aspects of norm internalization: actors, motives, and mechanisms. From those aspects, this study found that the actors’ efforts to internalize norms are hampered by the RUDs (Reservations, Understandings, Declarations) in the ratification of ICERD. The existence of white supremacy in the United States also disrupts the conformity (motive) needed for internalization. The last, in the aspect of mechanism, especially when it is viewed within the scope of the issuance of laws, there are certain legal decisions or policies which indirectly interfere with the implementation of the mechanism in the form of laws and regulations made by the United States before.

Would the “Optional Protocol” Effectuate India's Due Diligence Obligation Under the Women's Convention?

AbstractIndia acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women with a Declaration (CEDAW) to Article 5(a) stating that it will implement the principle on gender-based equality only to the extent of non-interference in the personal affairs of its religious communities. The due diligence obligation in the CEDAW, which was adopted through General Recommendation No. 19 in 1992, normatively expanded Article 5 to imply an obligation on nation states to redress traditional cultural attitudes that cause gender-based violence. This article argues that the cultural nature of GBV in India converts the Declaration of India into an inconsistent reservation under public international law. This implies that India's Declaration is an egregious breach of the CEDAW's due diligence obligation. Accession to the CEDAW's Optional Protocol is advocated as a solution to this serious breach. Theoretical implications for the three-stage norm life cycle and epiphenomenal norms are presented.

An Attractive Alternative? China’s Approach to Cyber Governance and Its Implications for the Western Model

ABSTRACT China’s cyber norm-building efforts can be usefully explored based on the concept of the norm life cycle developed by Finnemore and Sikkink. Although China puts cyber sovereignty and government involvement at the core of its cyber governance approach, its Internet policies are a result of interactions between state agencies and business units, and recent reforms suggest greater involvement of Chinese companies. Moreover, many countries, including some from the West, have placed increasing emphasis on intergovernmental involvement and data sovereignty when developing their Internet policies. The EU, for instance, believes that digital sovereignty is necessary to protect its own market from US and Chinese technology giants. Despite the fundamental differences between Brussels's digital sovereignty and Beijing’s cyber sovereignty, the dichotomy between China’s sovereignty-oriented approach and the more open approach of Western countries is more blurred than it may appear, leading to Western countries, the EU in particular, potentially becoming more receptive to China’s cyber norms.

Meaningful Refugee Participation: An Emerging Norm in the Global Refugee Regime

Abstract Is meaningful refugee participation a norm within the global refugee regime? Despite growing attention since 2016, we argue that meaningful refugee participation in the governance of the global refugee regime is not yet an established norm. By drawing on the norm lifecycle framework developed by Finnemore and Sikkink and an analysis of recent initiatives, we argue instead that meaningful refugee participation is an emerging norm that has the potential to become the standard of appropriate behaviour in global decision-making fora. Despite this progress, we argue that the pursuit of differentiated approaches to refugee participation by norm entrepreneurs may constrain efforts to advance the norm. By examining efforts by States, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and refugee-led initiatives in recent years, we seek to highlight the similarities and differences between these initiatives and the extent to which they meet the threshold for norm emergence. Through this analysis, we consider the current state of the norm of meaningful refugee participation and present some possible scenarios for the future of the norm. While meaningful refugee participation is not yet a norm in the global refugee regime, we argue that a deeper understanding of its steady emergence holds important lessons for future research, policy, and practice.

The UN MDGs in Indonesia: Analyzing Its Failure in Eradicating Poverty in Indonesia

The United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an international development movement oriented towards human welfare and global poverty eradication with measurable goals and targets, had hit the deadline by 2015. Its implementation reaped various contestations and claims regarding its success and failures in eradicating poverty in Indonesia. The Indonesian government claimed to have succeeded (on the track) in meeting the MDGs targets in eradicating poverty by reducing half of the number of Indonesians who earn one dollar per day (purchasing power parity/PPP) for the period 1990-2015. Meanwhile, the reality on the ground showed the contrast. Many Indonesian people lived in poverty and had minimal access to public health and education facilities. UNESCAP reported that Indonesia was one of the countries in the Asia Pacific region, which was alarming to achieve the MDGs. Based on such contradictions regarding the MDGs' poverty eradication mission in Indonesia, this article aims to examine why the MDGs program had not been able to overcome the problem of poverty in Indonesia? This article employs norm life cycle (dynamics) theory to investigate the problem behind UN MDGs' inability to overcome poverty in Indonesia. UN MDGs were considered a global norm in this article, substantiating the poverty eradication mission. Using the norm life cycle theory theorizing the three stages of norm development, starting from norm emergence, cascade, and internalization, this article reviews and investigates how Indonesia had dealt and performed in each of those norm life cycle stages within the framework of global poverty eradication norm. Based on the theoretical approach used, this article argues that the inability of UN MDGs to resolve poverty in Indonesia was due to the excessive use of statistical and quantitative basis of poverty eradication efforts rather than a more qualitative and welfare building approaches. Moreover, a systemic problem existed upon MDGs' coordination and implementation on the Indonesian government and donor countries/institutions. It included the lack of commitment to official development aid (ODA) realization, renegotiation and elimination of Indonesia's foreign debt, and rampant corruption in the national development and poverty eradication funds.

Regional Contexts of Transitional Justice in Korea: The Possibilities and Limitations of Interactions between Korea and Taiwan

이행기 정의는 과거 발생한 인권침해를 이행기 이후 국가가 해결하기 위해 취하는 조치이다. 학자들은 규범으로서의 이행기 정의의 국제적 확산을 규범의 생성, 확산, 내재화라는 생애주기를 이용해 설명했다. 하지만 기존 연구가 간과한 부분이 국제적 확산에 내포된 지역 수준의 상호작용이다. 이 논문의 목적은 동아시아 지역에서 일어난 이행기 정의 관련 상호작용을 한국과 대만 사례를 중심으로 분석하는 것이다. 이를 위해 첫째, 한국의 이행기 정의 경험을 개괄하고 국제적 및 동아시아 맥락에서 한국 사례가 가지는 위치를 조망한다. 둘째, 대만의 인권침해와 이행기 정의를 개괄하고, 한국 경험과의 상호작용을 살펴본다. 두 가지 특징을 발견했다. 첫째, 지역 전파가 한 국가에서 다른 국가로 일방적으로 일어나지 않았고 시차를 두고 교차해 가며 서로 영향을 주고받았다. 둘째, 한국과 대만처럼 양국의 인권침해가 다양하고 중층적인 양상을 보이면 두 국가의 상호작용 중에서 수평적 확산은 자연스럽게 일어날 수도 있다.Transitional justice is measures adopted by the government after political transition to address the past human rights violations committed by the former regime. Scholars used norm life cycle to explain the emergence, diffusion, and internalization of international diffusion of transitional justice norms. However, they tend to miss the dynamic of state-to-state interaction in the region which is an important building bloc of international diffusion. In this article, I conduct research on the interactions between Korea and Taiwan with regard to transitional justice measures. First, I overview transitional justice practices in South Korea and put the Korean case in the international and regional context. Second, I closely follow the interactions between Korea and Taiwan from 1990s to today. Two findings are worth noting. First, Korea-Taiwan interactions in transitional justice were not unidirectional but bidirectional relations over a long period of time. Second, horizontal diffusion, not vertical diffusion, is more likely when human rights violations are diverse and multifaceted as in case of Taiwan and Korea.

The limits of state-led norm entrepreneurship: The United Kingdom and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI)

This article examines the limits of state-led norm entrepreneurship in the case of the UK and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. The UK-led Preventing Sexual Violence in conflict Initiative emerged in 2012 and accelerated to the tipping point and beginning of the norm cascade by 2014. However, the Preventing Sexual Violence in conflict Initiative has since struggled to sustain similar levels of UK-led entrepreneurship where resources and institutional support have stagnated and declined. This article argues that the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative is evidence of how a norm that originally benefits from powerful state-led entrepreneurship to the point of cascading has to be maintained by consistent state support to prevent its progress from slowing, and potentially stagnating, at a significant moment in its evolution. The article contributes to research on norm entrepreneurship, the norm lifecycle, and analysis of the reasons why the UK’s entrepreneurship on the Preventing Sexual Violence in conflict Initiative has gradually stagnated when compared to its initial considerable investment in leadership and support.

The African human rights system as 'norm leader': Three case studies

Africa (including its human rights system) is rarely imagined or considered an originator, agent and purveyor of ideas, including in the human rights sphere. On this occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights which founded the African human rights system, it is only fitting that its contributions or otherwise to global human rights praxis, over these four decades, be examined from this perspective. Utilising the theory of the norm life cycle, developed by scholars of international relations who work within 'strategic social constructivism', this article examines how the African human rights system has, or has not, functioned as a 'norm leader' with regard to certain important and increasingly widely-accepted human rights standards. To that extent, the article examines (as examples) certain human rights norms first elaborated and made into legally-binding forms in the African Charter, widely circulated and having achieved a considerable level of global dispersal and adoption, in part, as a result of the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Focusing on three important norms (the right to self-determination, the right to development and the right to the environment) and based on a study of academic and other literature, treaties or instruments, case law and records of international negotiations, the article attempts to respond systematically to this overarching question. The article argues that although the African human rights system clearly is not a state, the critical but globally under-appreciated roles it has played regarding the globalised socialisation of certain human rights ideas fits within, and helps in extending, social constructivist human rights theory and praxis. The article concludes with a reflection on some key limitations that are observable as to how far the system has been able to travel in the direction of norm leadership in human rights law.

Southern States in International Development Cooperation: From Contestation to Norm Conception

Abstract Why and how do Southern countries conceive norms in the field of international aid and cooperation in an attempt to craft a symbolic regime that challenges Northern-oriented development agendas? To answer this question, this article engages with the literature on the life cycle of norms and goes beyond the earlier concepts of cascade, localisation, subsidiarity, reluctance, rejection, and contestation. As it considers the international–domestic nexus as the main catalyst for norm conception, this paper contributes to the existing literature on norm circulation by providing a more nuanced and context-led analysis of Southern countries’ normative role. In building upon the dialectics between international and domestic politics, this paper refutes the simple norm-taker/norm-maker dyad wherein the former is regarded as the South’s only possible role. Written from a Southern perspective, this paper also explores a range of channels, mechanisms, and platforms that Southern actors mobilise to create and diffuse their development cooperation norms both regionally and globally.

Dinamika Pertumbuhan Feminisme Di China Dalam Perspektif Konstruktivisme

This article describes how the growth process of feminism in China in the perspective of constructivism regarding the life-cycle of norms. In theory, there are three stages of how a norm which in this case is feminism through the life-cycle of norms. This research method uses a qualitative method of literature study. In this article, the findings are that there are three propositions related to the emergence of international norms in feminism in China, the first is Norm emergence which is described by the emergence of one of the famous female figures, namely, He Zhen, who adopted western feminism by not leaving Chinese cultural identity which was considered good for her. Chinese women's social change. In contrast to other reformers, He Zhen specifically separates the case of feminism from nationalism, stating that women's liberation is not for the sake of the nation, but rather a moral necessity. Second, the Norm Cascade is illustrated by the influence of China's state ratification of the Convention Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held in Copenhagen Denmark, by accepting international norms on gender equality which in turn will require domestic laws to make some changes to suit the issue. Third, Internalization is described by the growth process of Chinese feminism, namely the process of fusion with culture within the body of feminism itself, or in other words, feminism that develops has its own unique characteristics that are not owned by other countries and only China has it.Keywords: Chinese feminism, constructivism perspective, the life-cycle of norms

The Challenges Of Indonesia As A "Quintessential Transit Country" For Refugees: Cases Of Refugees In City Of Pekanbaru

Indonesia is one of the Refugee Transit Countries and one of the largest in Asia. This situation also implies that Indonesia has other responsibilities to protect both its citizens and refugees. However, due to its position as a transit country, Indonesia, unlike final destination countries, does not have an obligation to protect refugees entirely. The purpose of this research is to analyze Indonesia's acceptance of refugees and the challenges it faces. The acceptance of refugees as a transit country and not a final destination for refugees will threaten Indonesia's economic, social, security and other sectors. The number of refugees in Indonesia and their continued detention is still increasing. This study utilizes the norm life cycle theory to determine the Indonesian reasons for accepting refugees. It collects information from focus group discussions or an in-depth interview with some of the NGOs in Pekanbaru, and library research, using qualitative method. Indonesia was found to be in the norm emergence stage and going to the norm cascade, although not entirely in the norm cascade phase. Within this theory, altruism and empathy are the dominant motives for the Indonesian reason to accept the refugees. In the case of the city of Pekanbaru, the challenges faced by Indonesia in dealing with refugees are a lack of service to refugees, particularly in terms of empowerment for the refugees, a high number of refugees imbalanced with detention facilities, and a lack of refugee handling due to the limitation of government policy.

BRI as International Norm Construction of China's Green Development Strategy in Asia

For several decades, the environmental considerations have been one of a neglected aspect of China’s development process. The massive development and industrialization process have a direct impact on environmental degradation in China, causing considerable economic losses for this country. But now China is no longer a country with an image of development that is not environmentally friendly. That old image seems to be changing, from being not environmentally friendly to pay more attention to develop more “green” development. This change can be seen through the implementation of green development agenda on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) mega-project. The project is not only China's economic instrument in expanding its market and investment but also can be seen as a tool to construct China's new norms in international level, especially in Asia. The new norm is green development. Thanks to BRI, China has positioned itself as one of the leading countries on the green development agenda. This paper will examine the extent of the changes have been taken place by using constructivism perspective through the Norm Diffusion Theory of Finnemore and Sikkink (1998). The norm diffusion theory will be elaborated from two aspects, first is the norm entrepreneur, and second is the norm life cycle. State actor and non-state actor roles of China are both important players and decision-makers for steering the BRI project on an expected track. Not only that, the establishment of the International Coalition for Green Development on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRIGC) at the beginning of 2019 reflects China's strong commitment to a green development agenda that appears to have been successfully internalized in the Asia region.

The forever-emerging norm of banning nuclear weapons

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to assess the strength of the normative claim of banning nuclear weapons, expressed by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The first part shows that, in the Finnemore/Sikkink norm lifecycle, it is likely to be stuck at the first stage (emergence), as it does not meet the conditions for reaching the tipping point and therefore cascading (a critical mass of states; a mass of critical states; the intrinsic characteristics of the norm; how it fits in the existing normative framework). The second part shows that, in the three-part pattern of disarmament campaigns identified by Hanson, it is likely to be stuck at stage two, stigmatising and delegitimising nuclear weapons, but unable to eliminate them for three reasons (the exceptionality of nuclear weapons; the international security environment; and peer pressure). Overall, it will likely stay a forever-emerging norm.

‘킬러로봇’ 규범을 둘러싼 국제적 갈등: ‘국제규범 창설자’와 ‘국제규범 반대자’ 사이의 정치적 대립을 중심으로

본 연구는 다수의 국제정치 행위자들이 인간의 통제를 벗어난 무기체계의 도입을 우려하는 상황에도 불구하고 킬러로봇과 같은 자율무기체계 개발을 금지하는 규범이 왜 국제사회에서 확립되지 못하는지 그 원인에 대하여 분석한다. 현재 킬러로봇에 대한 국제규범은 ‘규범생애주기’(norm life cycle)의 첫 번째 단계인 ‘규범출현’ 단계에 있다. 규범출현 단계에서 규범창설자들이 일정 수의 국가들을 설득해서 임계점(tipping point)을 넘게 되면 킬러로봇 규범은 전 지구적 규범으로 발전될 수 있지만 반대로 임계점에 도달하지 않으면 관련 규범은 더 이상 전 세계 국가지도자들의 관심을 얻지 못한 채 ‘잃어버린 대의’(lost cause)로 전락할 수 있다. 따라서 본 논문은 킬러로봇 국제규범을 정착시키려는 ‘규범창설자’(norm entrepreneurs)와 로봇기술의 발전을 도모하고자 하는 ‘규범반대자’(norm antipreneurs) 사이의 규범적 갈등을 바탕으로 향후 관련 규범화가 어려운 원인을 규명한다.