As a part of its International Relations / Political Science Colloquium Series, the Department of Political Science/International Relations is pleased to invite you to a talk by Professor Kai Michael Kenkel, who will give a presentation entitled The Diffusion of Complex Norms: Clusters, Cores and the Example of R2P.

Professor Kenkel graduated in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute, Geneva. He is currently teaching in the area of international security with an emphasis on intervention and peace operations, at the Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (IRI/PUC-Rio).
He publishes in the areas of peace operations, humanitarian intervention, responsibility to protect (R2P), civilian-military relations and light weapons, and is the editor of the journal "Contexto Internacional".

Abstract: Much of the literature on norm diffusion and contestation has focused on norms that are “simple”—that is, either consisting of a single primary ideational contribution, or possessing few elements of internal contradiction. But what of complex norms that cannot be reduced to this definition? Recent contributions to the norm diffusion literature reflect changes in the unit of analysis from norms to norm sub-components and norm clusters (e.g. Winston, 2017). We argue further clarification is needed, focussing on the impact of sub-components’ ideational content on norms’ diffusion and contestation. Consequently, we propose placing additional emphasis on the core of a norm cluster, as the key to grasping this relationship. We examine the complex of norms surrounding the “responsibility to protect” to assess the potential for ideational contradiction between a norm’s sub-components. We are thus able to make two arguments regarding a cluster norm’s ideational content. First, we argue that focusing on a norm’s core allows us to determine the impact of a cluster’s normative content (as opposed to external factors affecting its diffusion such as agent characteristics or systemic power relations). A second focus is on identifying the value-problem duo in order to crystallize out the ideational “core” of a norm. This places the focus on the “dual nature” of norms (stable and flexible), laying the foundation for demonstrating that a cluster norm need nott automatically lose its object stability through variations in its content--a significant oversight in recent flexibility-oriented studies.

All talks will be followed by a discussion. Please direct all enquiries to: Eliza Urwin, Colloquium Coordinator, IR/PS Department.