Description
Since its inception, the study of norms in IR has evolved considerably, and so has our understanding of norms and their dynamics (d)evolution. However, despite – or perhaps because of – the conceptual differentiation, some enduring questions remain: How can norms be both inherently contested and changeable but still generate stable patterns of behavior and reliability of expectations? How do actors negotiate the meaning of contested norms? This paper seeks to find answers to these questions by focusing on recent research on norm complexity and norm clusters in particular. Adopting a critical-constructivist understanding of norms as meanings-in-use this paper argues that in addition to regulatory norm clusters, i.e.
collections of interlinked or related norms that are codified in the form of international treaties or regimes, there are also culturally distinct clusters of normative meanings-in-use. Their form may vary both in time and depending on the group of actors. Of particular interest is the extent to which similarities or differences can be recognized between specific cluster designations of different groups of actors and between these and the regulatory, i.e. ‘shared’, norm clusters cast in official regimes. Turning to the field of nuclear disarmament, this paper explores how and by means of which practices a variety of societal agents is involved in the making and shaping of normative meanings-in-use.
