Dynamics of Normative Change for International Nuclear Export Controls

Like other normative systems, the international nuclear export control norms are incomplete and at times contradictory. Thus, contestations to the international nuclear export control norms inevitably emerge, as they did in the wake of the 1974 Indian nuclear test and the 1991 discovery of Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. These two nuclear crises prompted intense debates regarding the adequacy of the existing norms. The outcome of the debates generated overwhelming agreement and action among nuclear suppliers that they required strengthening. Drawing on Wayne Sandholtz’s theory of normative change, which argues that events trigger disputes whose outcomes modify norms, this article illustrates how the nuclear export control norms have evolved in a cyclical fashion. The article aims to contribute to the constructivist literature on normative change and discusses policy implications.

Can women dynasty politicians disrupt social norms of political leadership? A proposed typology of normative change

Social norms that legitimise men as political leaders, and undervalue women’s leadership, are a tenacious barrier to women’s representation globally. This article explores the circumstances under which women dynasty politicians, whose legacy connections have provided them with an initial pathway into politics, are able to disrupt these norms. We test a proposed typology of normative change – one that progresses from norm acceptance, to norm modification, then norm resistance – among women dynasty politicians in the Pacific Islands. We find that norms of masculinised political leadership are strong, and in many cases the election of wives, widows, daughters and other relatives of male political actors reinforces these norms through their positioning as ‘placeholders’. Yet some women dynasty politicians can, and do, challenge and extend social norms of leadership. This is especially the case when the ‘legacy advantage’ is a springboard from which women demonstrate – and their publics accept – their own articulation of political leadership.

Norm Contestation and Normative Transformation in Global Peacebuilding Order(s): The Cases of China, Japan, and Russia

Focusing on the disconnect between mainstream “liberal” peacebuilding and the discourses and practices of “new” and “alternative” peacebuilding actors, this article develops a nonbinary approach that goes beyond norm localization to capture the ways in which major powers influence the nature, content, and direction of normative change. Within the context of their bilateral and multilateral contributions to the “global peacebuilding order,” what forms and types of interventions are conceived by these actors as peacebuilding? How, in turn, has the substantive content of their peacebuilding practices (re)shaped norms and narratives in international peacebuilding efforts? Based on extensive empirical research of the peacebuilding policies and activities of China, Japan, and Russia, this article analyzes the way in which these “top-top” dynamics between norms embedded in the liberal narrative and major powers with competing visions can influence peacebuilding as practiced and pursued in host states. In doing so, it brings together research on global norms and peacebuilding studies and offers a simple yet analytically powerful tool to better understand the evolution of global peacebuilding order(s) and the role of rising powers in (re)shaping global governance.

Mediation: A Change in Finnish Court Culture?

The topic of this chapter is court-connected mediation and how mediation has affected the court culture in civil cases in Finland. The focus is on the three following dimensions of the mediation system: on legislative, theoretical, and practical changes. The main normative change was the act that came into force in 2006. The new legislation led gradually to changes in practice as well. A significant amount of cases in the District Courts go to mediation today. The law defines judges also as mediators, and in practice many judges are trained and experienced mediators. Also, the theoretical framework for courts has expanded, since mediation theories constitute a relevant basis for the mediation process. The change in culture is also multidirectional. Not only has mediation moved into the legalistic court culture, but also the legal context affects mediation. Mediation has changed court culture by providing an alternative to court trial and it has brought new dimensions to the definition, role and function of courts of law.

»Wandel durch Annäherung«: Multinormativität und informelle Politik in der europäischen Integration zwischen den 1960er und 1990er-Jahren

The article scrutinises the institutional culture of European integration, with a particular focus on the decision-making procedures of the European Community in the period from the 1960s to the 1990s. ‘Soft Law’ played a key role in the normative and administrative development and differentiation of the Community, because it crystallised legal, political, cultural, and administrative norms. More specifically, the article demonstrates how the procedural norm of consensus became gradually challenged (and weakened) by the rise of majority voting in the Community. The article thus illustrates how the process of Europeanisation (‘Annäherung’) can contribute to normative change (‘Wandel’).