Session 18: Norms in the Different Epochs of History

The reading assigned for this week by Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink talks about norms and how these norms and the acceptance of certain norms is what drives History. It is these norms that hold a society together, and it is these norms that are used as a way to justify war. The authors very aptly start by explain what a norm is- something which is widely accepted and seen as a way of life by actors- and then continue to explain how it is the interpretation and understanding of these norms that shape policies in both the domestic sphere as well as the international sphere. Two distinct discussions that stood out was the discourse about slavery and the norms that justified it and how international norms can filter though domestic structures and produce a variation of already popularly held norms. This piece will concentrate on these two aspects and illustrate these two points through examples. 

Slavery has been a chronic feature of Human History and continues even today, though not in the blatant form that it existed in centuries ago. Finnemore and Sikkink talk about how no norm is seen as particularly bad when viewed from the lens of those who form the norms itself. What comes into play here is power and who exactly holds power. In the case of slavery that existed in America from the 1600's, it is easy to pinpoint who exactly held power: the colonizers. It was these colonizers that shaped policies and justified slavery. One explanation that was given was that the colonizers had taken on the White Man's Burden and wanted to improve the society and enlighten them with their wisdom. However, certain people were excluded from falling under the umbrella of being graced from the Western Colonizers Wisdom. It was these people that became slaves, and we see that the norms that were accepted at the time were completely for such actions because it was those in power who used institutionalized means to govern over others. So, the acceptance of norms is largely dictated by those that hold power. 

If we see the example of Congo, King Leopold II used his wealth and money to coerce the local people and accept his rule. He then went onto form the local institutions. His monopoly over violence helped to ensure that his norms and values were accepted by everyone- again demonstrating the importance that power plays in politics. Another interesting aspect of Constructivism is the concept of human agency, and we see that when the colonizers leave the countries that they rule, they leave vestiges of their legacy behind and the locals are unable to escape it and even today countries suffer greatly because the institutions that were formed years ago and inescapable. So, we see how agency and who ruled you and your history that shapes states and determines the status that states hold today in the international arena. 

Another important aspect discussed by the authors is the fact that what happens on the international level actually effects the domestic level as well. This is true and an example of this might be that of the American Civil War. Many people from France helped fight the American War of 1776, and when they fought under the banner of fraternity, liberty and equality and returned to France, it was natural for them to pass on the same ideas to their fellow French Men. This led to the soldiers and local people wanting more rights. So, we see that there is an infiltration of ideas from the international arena into the domestic sphere, thus altering previously held norms, 

This weeks piece was very interesting because it highlighted many aspects of international relations and the importance of norms and ideas in policy making.