Contestation in Prism: The Evolution of Norms and Norm Clusters in Contemporary Global Politics

This book analyses the complex dynamics of international norm contestation and explores how norms adapt and withstand challenges in different settings. Examining the interplay between various types of contestation, norm robustness, and the resilience of norm clusters, it sheds light on what the authors define as ‘contestation in prism’. The book thus presents norm contestation as a multifaceted process with far-reaching implications. 

In this context, it further discusses different conceptions of contestation, ranging from reactive vs. proactive contestation and applicatory vs. validity contestation, to inadvertent, i.e. interpretive vs. deliberate contestation. It then develops a theoretical model that links contestation ‘in prism’ with studies of norm clusters, or norms that are embedded in broader normative structures and interwoven with other normative meanings. Based on a strong theoretical framing, the book presents in-depth analyses of norm contestation in areas such as regional organizations, nuclear non-proliferation, norms relating to atrocities, and international criminal law. 

Offering multifaceted perspectives on norm evolutions and their implications, this contribution will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of international relations and related disciplines, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of contestation and norm cluster resiliency.

Flavia Lucenti is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and an Adjunct Professor at LUISS University, Department of Political Science, Italy. Her research interests include IR theory, China, Russia, technology, and norms. Previously, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Oxford, UK, and as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy. She holds a PhD in Political Studies and International Relations from the University of Roma Tre, Italy. She was a visiting PhD Candidate at the Hong Kong University, China, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia, and the European University Institute, Italy.

Cecilia Ducci is a Research Fellow at the University of Bologna, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Italy. She was a visiting scholar at Leiden University (Department of Political Science), The Netherlands, and at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Germany. Her research interests include IR theory, norms, norm contestation, mass atrocities, and international law.

Carmen Wunderlich is an Interim Professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany, substituting the Chair of International Relations. Since 2018, she has been ‘Akademische Rätin auf Zeit’ (eq. to non-tenured Assistant Professor/Lecturer) at the University of Duisburg-Essen (currently: on leave), Germany. She is also a Principal Investigator in the research consortium “VeSPoTec – Nuclear Verification in a Complex and Unpredictable World”, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and an affiliate researcher at the Peace Research Center Prague. Her research focuses on global norm dynamics and practices of contestation with focus on issues related to the control of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear disarmament. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), and a visiting researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany, and the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation, Austria. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Frankfurt, Germany.

Jeffrey S. Lantis is a Professor of Political Science at The College of Wooster, USA. His teaching and research interests include international security, constructivist norm theory, foreign policy analysis, and emerging technologies. Lantis has published numerous books and articles on these subjects and served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia and a Visiting Scholar at Carleton University, Canada, and the German Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State University, USA.