Lesson 2 Flashcards
Concepts
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Constructivist Norm Theory
How norms evolves and ideas and norms shape state behavior and international relations, emphasizing that norms are socially constructed through interactions between actors.
Three-Dimensional Model of Norms
- Individual norms
- Norm Connections and Contestation
- Meta-Governance Norms
Lantis and Wunderlich
Individual norms
Basic building blocks of constructivist theory and represent shared expectations about appropriate behavior.
Norms are contested.
Contest is reflected in the way actors enact, interpret, and contest the core meaning of a norm in specific situations.
Norm Clusters
Similarly aligned and conceptually interlinked norms addressing a common issue area.
Example R2P pillars. 1) protect own population 2) recieve support from international community 3) Intervene without acceptance.
Meta-governance norm
Human rights norms as a topic
Syria example Constructivist Norm Theory
**Individual Norms: **R2P three pillars
Cluster Norm: R2P
**Meta Norm: **Human rights
Norm Contestation
This occurs when actors challenge the validity or meaning of a norm.
Norm Collisions
These happen when two or more norms have conflicting expectations about appropriate behavior. They can lead to debates and disagreements about which norm should take precedence.
Norm resilience
While norm strength focuses on a linear scale of influence, norm resiliency considers the ability of a norm to withstand challenges and contestation.
Critical Security Studies
A field of study that challenges traditional understandings of security, expanding the concept beyond state-centric military concerns to include a wider range of issues and actors, like environmental threats, economic inequality, and social injustices.
Traditional Security Studies
An approach to security that primarily focuses on the military security of states, often emphasizing the role of power politics and interstate conflict. It is frequently contrasted with critical security studies.
Securitization
The process by which an issue or phenomenon is framed as an existential threat, requiring extraordinary measures to address it. This often involves elevating the issue to a matter of national security, justifying the use of exceptional policies or actions.
Feminist Security Studies
Key Principles: Examines how gender roles, norms, and power dynamics shape security issues and experiences.
Assumptions: Security is not gender-neutral; traditional security concepts often reflect and reinforce patriarchal structures.
Critiques of Traditional Security: Challenges the state-centric focus, arguing that personal and societal security are equally important.
Postcolonial Security Studies
Key Principles: Analyzes the impact of colonialism on security, highlighting the role of race, ethnicity, and cultural difference.
Assumptions: Security cannot be understood without considering the historical and ongoing effects of colonial power structures.
Critiques of Traditional Security: Challenges the Eurocentric bias in security studies, advocating for a more inclusive and globally representative understanding of security.
Michael Williams
A scholar associated with critical security studies, his work is recognized as a significant contribution to the development of the field.
Poststructuralist Security Studies
**Key Principles: **Focuses on the role of language, discourse, and representation in shaping security perceptions and practices.
Assumptions: Security is a socially constructed concept, shaped by power relations and dominant narratives.
Critiques of Traditional Security: Challenges the idea of objective security threats, arguing that security is always subjective and contested
Realism/Neorealism
- Dominant theory in international relations.
- Focuses on international security and political economy.
- Views human rights as a part of domestic politics, which is fundamentally different from international politics.
- Sees the international system as anarchic - no higher authority above states.
Institutionalism
A school of thought in international relations that acknowledges the anarchic nature of the international system but argues that cooperation between states is still possible.
Focuses on how international institutions can help states overcome collective action problems and achieve common goals.
Tends to neglect human rights issues due to the perception that they are primarily domestic matters and do not involve significant cross-border externalities.
Constructivism
- Emphasizes the role of ideas, norms, and identities in shaping international politics.
- Views human rights as a prime example of how norms can influence state behavior, even when it may conflict with their material interests.
- Focuses on the process of norm socialization, how states internalize international norms and change their behavior accordingly
Liberalism
- Focuses on the role of domestic politics and state-society relations in shaping international politics.
- Views democratic institutions and the protection of human rights as key factors in promoting peace and cooperation between states.
- Explores how domestic political factors influence states’ decisions to join and comply with international human rights regimes.
Logic of Consequentialism
A way of thinking where actions are chosen based on the expected outcomes or consequences. Actors make decisions by evaluating which action will lead to the best results, often in terms of maximizing their own interests or achieving specific goals.
Logic of Appropriateness
A way of thinking where actions are chosen based on what is considered right or appropriate in a given situation. Actors make decisions based on social norms, rules, and identities, striving to act in a way that aligns with their perceived obligations and roles within a particular social context.
Norm Life Cycle
A three-stage model used in constructivist theory to describe how international norms emerge, spread, and become internalized by states:
Norm Emergence: Driven by “norm entrepreneurs” who advocate for new norms and try to persuade others to adopt them.
Norm Cascade: When a critical mass of states accepts a norm, leading to a rapid increase in its adoption by others.
Norm Internalization: When norms become widely accepted and taken for granted, shaping states’ behavior without significant opposition or debate.
Sovereignty Costs
The perceived burdens or limitations that states may face when they join international institutions or regimes. These costs can include constraints on their domestic policy autonomy, financial contributions, and potential legal challenges to their actions.
Reactive Contestation
To avoid compliance. Not implement norm.
Proactive contestation
To influence or reshape norms
