Abstract
A profusion of international norms influences state behaviour. Ambiguities and tensions in the normative framework can give rise to contestation. While research on norm contestation has ...focused on open debates about norms, we identify a second type of norm contestation where norms are contested through particular forms of implementation. We therefore distinguish between contestation through words and actions, that is, discursive and behavioural contestation. Discursive contestation involves debates about the meaning and/or (relative) importance of norms. Behavioural contestation, by contrast, eschews such debates. Instead, different norm understandings become apparent in the different ways in which actors shape the implementation of norms. Despite being a potentially powerful mechanism of challenging and changing norms, behavioural contestation has fallen outside the purview of the literature in part because it frequently remains below the radar. The two forms of contestation overlap when the practices of behavioural contestation are brought to the attention of and discussed by the international community. Thus, discursive and behavioural contestation are not mutually exclusive but can happen at the same time, sequentially or independently of each other. This introduction to a special section of the May 2019 issue of International Affairs, on ‘The dynamics of dissent’, develops the concept of behavioural contestation and outlines triggers and effects of this hitherto under-researched expression of dissent.
Thousands of minors are migrating unaccompanied to high-income countries. This special issue focuses on unaccompanied migrant minors from the Global South to Europe and the U.S. In this introduction, ...we seek to complement the contributions to this special issue by shedding light on what resources and experiences unaccompanied migrants arrive with, stressing these young migrants' challenges at each stage prior to arrival and the challenges they face navigating the receiving context. We first clarify how the international community defines 'unaccompanied minors' or 'unaccompanied children'. We then provide brief histories of unaccompanied minors in immigration flows to the U.S. and the EU. Next, we review the literature on the experiences of unaccompanied minors before, during, and after migration. Finally, we discuss key themes and insights from the articles provided in this special issue.
The international community has reached a consensus on preventing the global climate from deterioration by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Energy industry is a key field ...for greenhouse gas emission, and investment in the energy industry plays a crucial part in promoting the low-carbon development of China's energy industry. Energy investment can effectively break the high carbon ″lock-in effect″ of energy industry and achieve the low-carbon development of energy industry by guiding, regulating and gathering social funds into the field of cleaner production and the field of low-carbon technology. Based on the unified framework of energy, economy and environment, this article takes 30 provinces in China as the research object, and constructs a spatial econometric model to investigate the impact of energy investment and economic growth on carbon emission reduction. The results indicate that both energy investment and economic growth are responsible for the increase of China's provincial CO2 emissions, but their driving mechanisms are significantly different. Furthermore, the increase of carbon emissions in adjacent provinces will bring about the increase of local carbon emissions through spatial spillover effects. Based on these findings, the corresponding countermeasures and policy suggestions are put forward.
•The influence mechanism of energy investment on carbon emissions is analyzed.•The spatial spillover effects are considered in the analysis.•Regional economic growth will inhibit the increase of carbon emissions in neighboring provinces through indirect effects.•Carbon emissions among adjacent provinces have a mutually reinforcing effect.•Policies aimed at facilitating carbon emission reduction are put forward.
Poverty is a challenge facing all countries and the international community as a whole. Promoting development, narrowing the rural-urban gap, eliminating poverty and achieving common prosperity are ...all ideals that humanity constantly pursues. Despite the great achievements have been made in poverty alleviation over the past three decades, the extent of poverty in rural China is still high. It is both necessary and urgent to fully understand the root and status quo of China's poverty and establish a scientific poverty relief system. Based on high resolution poverty data, this study systematically examined the status quo and spatial distribution characteristics of poverty in rural China and its driving mechanism. The results showed that the distribution of the Chinese rural poor exhibits a distinct spatial agglomeration feature. Poverty is mainly concentrated in the remote deep rocky mountainous areas, border areas and minority areas of central and western China and gradually gathers towards the southwestern region. The “islanding effect” may well appear in China's poverty-stricken regions in the future. The proportion of poor people in the northwestern and southeastern regions of the Hu Huanyong line was 16.4% and 83.6%, respectively, indicating the uneven distribution of the rural poor. Furthermore, further investigations indicated that suffering from illness is the greatest contributor to current individual or transient poverty in rural China. The lack of natural endowments, poor geographic conditions and fragile ecological environment are the main driving forces behind persistent poverty. Ultimately, we proposed that China implement a scientific, differentiated, sustainable, targeted and problem-oriented poverty alleviation strategy that can lift the country's rural poor population out of poverty by 2020 as scheduled.
•We examine the spatio-temporal patterns and driving forces of poverty in rural China.•The distribution of Chinese rural poor exhibits a distinct spatial agglomeration.•The “islanding effect” may well appear in China's poverty-stricken regions in the future.•Suffering from illness is the greatest contributor to transient poverty in rural China.•Some people-oriented anti-poverty measures and suggestions are proposed.
•Survey is adopted to capture the change of the constructs before and after.•The selected community provides a novel observation of behavior change.•Intention structure was concluded based on Theory ...of Planned Behavior.•Environmental knowledge and rules in the community are important factors.
Analysing and understanding the factors that influence the behavior of waste separation is critical to improved waste management. This study identified the factors behind behavioral change in waste separation at source in an international community. The theory of planned Behavior (TPB) was adopted to conduct a self-report questionnaire survey twice, in which 354 residents participated at Time1 and 331 at Time 2, with a retention rate of 93.5%. The questionnaires were designed based on TPB with additional questions regarding waste separation rules in the community, experience of waste separation, and environmental knowledge. With the questionnaire data and follow-up qualitative interviews, factors related to waste separation through factor analysis and structural equation modelling and text mining were specified. The panel data collected over three months demonstrated the changes in attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control that affect behavioral intention in the process of behavior adaption. Combined with interview data, the reasons for these changes can be further attributed to individuals’ environmental knowledge and community guidelines. The findings imply that policies targeting environmental education and rulemaking are effective to help residents form more positive intentions towards waste separation.
Integration into the international community is typically used to explain liberal outcomes. However, is it possible that such integration can also explain rising illiberalism? Using the case of LGBT+ ...rights, I argue that backlash to liberal norms is increasingly organized transnationally and that exposure to global norms via integration explains both liberal and illiberal outcomes. I test this argument through extensive original data collection and by using time-series cross-section, multinomial, and cross-lagged panel models. Robust findings reveal how exposure to global norms spurs policy backlashes—not just expansions—depending on how countries are situated within pro- and anti-LGBT+ transnational networks. This study contributes to our understanding of the changing international system by revealing how illiberal actors use mechanisms built by the liberal international community to transnationally organize and advance illiberal norms—ultimately fueling the deinstitutionalization of once-dominant liberal models.
Editorial: Harmonizing Global Science Leshner, Alan I.; Turekian, Vaughan
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
12/2009, Letnik:
326, Številka:
5959
Journal Article
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