Writing Norms: Constructivist Norm Research and the Politics of Ambiguity

Engelkamp Stephan, Glaab Katharina

Abstract

The language used by norm research exercises a form of epistemological violence that seeks to minimise normative ambiguity, hence foreclosing alternative ways of reading and writing about norms. Taking a seminal text of constructivist literature on norms as an example, this paper examines how this research has been dominated by a specific ‘norm language'. In order to uncover the power of this language, we will look into the normalising effects and implications of a particularly influential work in norm research literature. Inspired by Derrida's work on deconstruction and his critique of Western metaphysics, we inquire into the presuppositions of Finnemore and Sikkink's International Norm Dynamics and Political Change. A double reading of the text traces how it relies on logocentric dichotomies that need to be frequently sustained by discursive moves of deferral, closure, and forgetting. We provide an alternative reading of some of the stories in the text that work to destabilise its underlying logics. Lastly, we will give a perspective on ‘writing norms' that accepts ambiguity instead of the practised ‘norm language'. We call for a culture of tolerance and an ethics of ‘hospitality' that do not seek to eliminate normative ambiguity, but celebrate it as a source for dialogue.