3.2 Norms and identity in international relations

Norms and identity are key concepts in constructivism, shaping how actors behave and define themselves in international relations. These social constructs influence state interests, alliances, and global order, challenging realist and liberal assumptions about fixed interests and universal values.

Constructivists argue that norms and identities are not static but evolve through interaction and contestation. This dynamic view helps explain changes in state behavior, the emergence of new international actors, and transformations in world politics over time.

Norms in International Relations

Norms provide standards of appropriate conduct in the international system. Rather than treating state behavior as driven purely by material power or rational self-interest, constructivists argue that norms shape what states consider acceptable, desirable, or even thinkable. Norms can emerge, strengthen, weaken, or disappear over time through social interaction and contestation.

Definition of Norms

Norms are shared expectations about appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity. They are socially constructed and intersubjectively held, meaning they exist not in any single actor's head but in the shared understandings between actors. Norms can be formal or informal, explicit or implicit, and they vary in how specific and institutionalized they are.

Types of International Norms

• Regulative norms prescribe or prohibit particular behaviors. The prohibition on the use of chemical weapons is a clear example: the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention codified a norm that had been developing since the aftermath of World War I.
• Constitutive norms define the identities and interests of actors rather than just regulating their behavior. Sovereignty is a constitutive norm of the modern state system. It doesn't just tell states what to do; it defines what a state is.
• Evaluative norms provide standards for judging and criticizing behavior. Human rights norms, for instance, give actors a shared vocabulary for calling out abuses even when enforcement mechanisms are weak.
• Practical norms guide decision-making in specific issue areas, such as norms of diplomatic protocol or the expectation that states negotiate before resorting to force.

Evolution of Norms Over Time

Norms are not permanent fixtures. They change through identifiable social processes:

• New norms can emerge and become institutionalized through the efforts of norm entrepreneurs (individuals or organizations that champion a new standard of behavior) and transnational advocacy networks. The anti-apartheid movement is a classic example: activists and states worked together to establish racial equality as an international norm, eventually isolating South Africa diplomatically.
• Existing norms can weaken or disappear as they lose legitimacy or face challenges from alternative norms. The norm of colonial rule, once widely accepted among European powers, collapsed over the course of the 20th century.
• The evolution of norms is shaped by power dynamics, shifting interests, new ideas, and major events like wars or economic crises.

Norms as Social Constructs

Norms are not objective facts or natural laws. They are produced and reproduced through the practices and interactions of actors. The meaning and content of a norm is interpreted and negotiated by actors in specific social and historical contexts. For example, what "sovereignty" means in practice has shifted considerably since the 17th century, and debates over humanitarian intervention show that its boundaries are still contested.

Norms are also embedded in broader structures of meaning and identity. How an actor responds to a norm depends on how that actor understands itself and its role in the world.

Norms vs. Laws in Global Politics

Both norms and laws provide standards of appropriate behavior, but they differ in important ways:

• Laws are formally codified, precisely defined, and backed by enforcement mechanisms (state coercion or international organizations).
• Norms are often more informal, ambiguous, and dependent on voluntary compliance and social pressure.

The relationship between the two is not one-directional. Norms can drive the development of new laws (the growing norm against landmines led to the 1997 Ottawa Treaty). Conversely, laws can formalize and reinforce existing norms, giving them greater specificity and enforcement power.

Identity in International Relations

Identity refers to the ways actors define themselves and are defined by others. Constructivists treat identities as socially constructed and intersubjective rather than as fixed attributes. A state's identity shapes its interests, preferences, and actions in ways that material factors alone cannot explain.

Definition of Identity

Identity is the understanding and expectation about self that an actor develops in relation to others through social interaction. It consists of the roles, values, norms, and narratives that define an actor's sense of self and its place in the world. Identity operates at multiple levels (individual, state, regional, global) and can be multiple and overlapping. A state can simultaneously hold identities as a "European nation," a "democracy," and a "middle power."

National vs. Regional Identity

• National identity refers to a shared sense of belonging and loyalty to a particular nation-state, often grounded in language, culture, history, and territory.
• Regional identity refers to shared belonging and solidarity among states or peoples within a geographic region. European identity, for instance, has been actively constructed through institutions like the EU, shared symbols, and common policy frameworks. Arab identity draws on shared linguistic and cultural ties across multiple states.

These identities coexist and interact in complex ways. European integration, for example, has sometimes reinforced and sometimes challenged national identities within member states.

Identity Formation and Change

Identities are constructed and reconstructed through social interaction and historical processes, not inherited as fixed traits.

• Identity formation involves creating and maintaining boundaries between "self" and "other," along with developing shared meanings and expectations within the in-group.
• Identities can change in response to globalization, migration, conflict, and social movements. Germany's post-World War II identity transformation from an aggressive militarist state to a committed multilateralist is a frequently cited example.
• Identity entrepreneurs and social groups play active roles in shaping collective identities, and power relations influence whose version of identity becomes dominant.

Identity and State Behavior

State identities shape interests, preferences, and actions in the international system. States with different identities may understand their roles and responsibilities very differently.

Consider how a state that identifies as a "neutral power" (like Switzerland) pursues a fundamentally different foreign policy orientation than one that identifies as a "global leader" (like the United States). Identity influences alliance patterns, willingness to cooperate or use force, and how a state defines its national interest in the first place. Changes in state identity can therefore produce significant shifts in foreign policy and broader international relations.

Identity and International Conflict

Identities can drive both cooperation and conflict:

• Shared identities can facilitate cooperation and the formation of security communities. The Nordic countries, for instance, share a regional identity that has contributed to decades of peaceful relations and policy coordination.
• Conflicting identities can generate misperception, mistrust, and escalation. When states or groups define themselves in opposition to one another, even minor disputes can become existential.
• Identity politics, including nationalism and ethnic conflict, can be a major driver of international instability. The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s illustrates how competing national identities within a single state can fuel devastating conflict.

Constructivism and Norms

Constructivism places norms at the center of international relations theory. Where other approaches treat norms as secondary to material power or institutional design, constructivists argue that norms are constitutive of the social world itself.

Constructivist View of Norms

For constructivists, norms do more than constrain behavior. They are constitutive: they help define who actors are, what they want, and what options they consider available. A norm like sovereignty doesn't just regulate state behavior; it constitutes the very category of "state" and shapes what states understand as possible and desirable.

Norms are also internalized. Over time, actors don't just follow norms because of external pressure; they come to see norm-consistent behavior as part of who they are.

Norms as Intersubjective Understandings

Norms are neither purely subjective beliefs nor objective facts. They are intersubjective, meaning they exist in the shared space between actors. Their meaning is negotiated and sometimes contested through social interaction and communication. This is why the "same" norm (say, non-intervention) can be interpreted differently across time periods and political contexts.

Norms and the Social Construction of Reality

Norms are part of how actors construct their social reality. They define what counts as legitimate knowledge, appropriate behavior, and valued goals in a given context. This construction is not a one-way process. Agents and structures mutually constitute each other: actors create and reproduce norms through their practices, and those norms in turn shape how actors perceive the world and their options within it.

Norms and the Constitution of Identities

Norms and identities are mutually constitutive. Norms define the roles, values, and expectations associated with particular identities, while identities shape which norms actors recognize and follow. A state that identifies as a "liberal democracy" will internalize norms of human rights and rule of law as part of its self-understanding. At the same time, adherence to those norms reinforces and reproduces the democratic identity.

Constructivism vs. Realism on Norms

This is one of the sharpest divides in IR theory:

Constructivism and Identity

Constructivism treats identity as socially constructed, relational, and dynamic. This stands in contrast to approaches that take state identities as given or reduce them to material characteristics.

Constructivist View of Identity

Identities are not just descriptive labels. They are social constructions that shape how actors understand themselves, others, and the world. They are relational (defined through interaction, not in isolation) and contested (subject to ongoing negotiation and transformation). A state's identity as a "rising power" or a "status quo power," for example, is not simply a reflection of GDP or military capability; it is a social position constructed through interaction with other states.

Identity as Socially Constructed

The construction of identity involves:

1. Boundary creation: Defining who is "self" and who is "other." This boundary-drawing is a political act, not a natural one.
2. Shared meaning: Developing common narratives, symbols, and expectations within the in-group.
3. Reproduction: Maintaining identity through ongoing practices, rituals, and discourse.

Power relations, historical narratives, and cultural practices all shape which identities become dominant and how they are understood.

Identity and the Construction of Interests

This is a core constructivist claim: interests are not prior to identities but are produced by them. A state doesn't first have interests and then develop an identity to match. Rather, its identity defines what it considers important, threatening, or desirable.

For example, a state that identifies as a "peacekeeper" will define its interests differently than one that identifies as a "great power competitor," even if both have similar material capabilities. The construction of interests involves interpretation and negotiation as actors define goals and strategies in relation to their identities and social contexts.

Identity and the Formation of Alliances

Identities influence alliance formation in ways that go beyond simple balance-of-power calculations:

• Shared identities facilitate cooperation and the development of security communities (groups of states among which war becomes unthinkable). NATO, for instance, is often analyzed not just as a military alliance but as a community of liberal democracies with a shared identity.
• Conflicting identities can drive the formation of rival blocs and make conflict resolution more difficult, since disputes become tied to fundamental questions of who actors are, not just what they want.

Constructivism vs. Liberalism on Identity

Norms, Identity, and International Order

Norms and identities are not just features of individual state behavior; they are central to the construction and maintenance of international order itself. The rules, institutions, and practices that govern global politics rest on shared normative foundations and collective identities.

Norms and the Stability of International Order

Norms contribute to stability by providing shared expectations and standards. When norms are institutionalized in international law, organizations, and regimes, they help manage conflicts and facilitate cooperation. The norm of diplomatic immunity, for example, enables international communication even between hostile states.

Conversely, the erosion or contestation of foundational norms can destabilize international order. When major actors begin to challenge norms like non-intervention or multilateral cooperation, the predictability that sustains order breaks down.

Identity and the Legitimacy of International Order

The legitimacy of international order depends partly on whether it reflects and accommodates the identities and interests of its participants. Order is more likely to be seen as legitimate when it is grounded in shared norms and values, and when it provides space for the expression and recognition of diverse identities.

Challenges to legitimacy arise when actors feel their identities and interests are excluded or marginalized. Critiques of the post-1945 international order by Global South states, for instance, often center on the argument that existing institutions reflect Western identities and norms rather than truly universal ones.

Norms, Identity, and the Evolution of International Order

International order evolves as norms and identities shift. The decolonization movement transformed the normative landscape of international politics, establishing self-determination as a core principle and bringing dozens of new states into the system. More recently, norms around environmental responsibility and climate justice are reshaping institutional agendas and state identities.

This evolution is not driven by material power or rational calculation alone. It involves the social construction of new norms, identities, and institutions through contestation and negotiation.

Norms, Identity, and Challenges to International Order

Challenges to international order can take several forms:

• Normative contestation: Actors reject or reinterpret existing norms. Rising powers like China and Russia have challenged Western-led norms around liberal governance and humanitarian intervention.
• Identity politics: Nationalist movements, ethnic conflicts, and civilizational narratives can disrupt established patterns of cooperation.
• Institutional reform: Actors push to reshape the rules and practices of global governance to better reflect changing norms and identities (e.g., calls to reform the UN Security Council).

Norms, Identity, and the Future of International Order

The trajectory of international order will depend on how actors navigate shifting norms and identities. Building a more inclusive and effective order requires developing norms and institutions that can accommodate diverse identities and interests without collapsing into fragmentation. It also requires managing the tensions that arise from competing norms and identities, finding ways to build common ground even amid deep disagreement.