‘International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.’

The mind-boggling concept of constructivism remains interesting food for thought for both philosophers and the layman given that it serves as a mental transportation through time, to an era where there was no trace of notions such as politics and institutions. Norms are derived precisely through this social constructivism and are examined thoroughly in Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink’s ‘International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.’

The life cycle of norms described by the authors comprises of three stages namely norm emergence, where norms first surface through socialization followed by a norm cascade in which the norms gains prominence due to social changes in society and the completion of the cycle with ‘internalization’ where norms became an integral part of the widely held beliefs by a society.

This theory exists in opposition then, to the popular realist school of thought which terms anarchy as the core principle driving the international system. As a consequence, one naturally wonders whether norms followed anarchy or anarchy followed norms yet perhaps it would be inadequate to view these theories in complete isolation from each other. As stated by realism anarchy stems from the basic self-interested nature of man and the concept of a norms cascade or ‘bandwagoning’ could mean that man simply followed the selfish behavior of his peers to result eventually in a widely spread and deeply ingrained anarchic system. If viewed in isolation neither theory can provide a comprehensive analysis of the behavior of states with both having shortcomings for example the inability of anarchic system to sufficiently explain the element of religion tied to states and similarly the fact that norms are by their very nature subject to constant change unlike the continuous presence of anarchy in the international system.