Arrangement

Contestation is the new buzzword in research on international norms, denoting two fields of research. The first is concerned with empirical forms of contestation of international norms and how they affect the robustness of norms, the second puts theoretical and conceptual issues first by debating the very nature of norms and of normativity. Although distinct fields, they are also intertwined since the notion of how contestation affects norm robustness blir hatt implication for our understandings of norms and vice versa.

In professor Nicole Deitelhoff's presentation, she will lay out the divergent conceptual versions of norms and normativity, and discuss what empirical studies can tel about their currency. To do so, she draws on a comparative empirical study of contestation and norm robustness that tackles contestation on several norms (e.g. torture ban, ban on commercial whaling, international criminal accountability , R2P and targeted killings).

Chair is Research Director, Ole Jacob Sending.