The Concept of Contestation of Norms - An Interview

Abstract

The concept contestation of norms entails two components, norms and contestation. Norms are soft institutions ranging from fundamental principles at the macro scale, and organising principles at the meso scale, to specific standards at the micro scale of a given order. Norms have a dual quality insofar as they are socially constructed as well as structuring. In turn, contestation is defined as a practice that can either indicate objection to something, for example the implementation of a norm as ‘contested compliance’ or breaches of a norm as ‘contested norm violation’. In these cases, we speak of reactive contestation. In turn and less frequently, contestation may also include critical engagement with a norm (a rule, a principle, or an order) in order to clarify distinct meanings or agree on the means (instruments, mechanism, policies) that are required to implement the norm. In this case, we speak of proactive contestation.

The paper is organised according to an interview format. It discusses the core concepts and research assumptions of norm contestation against the backdrop of the Theory of Contestation.

Keywords: contestation, norms, international relations, proactive, reactive, soft institutions, climate justice