Stigma Management in International Relations: Transgressive Identities, Norms, and Order in International Society

This article develops a theoretical approach to stigma in international relations and resituates conventional approaches to the study of norms and international order. Correcting the general understanding that common values and norms are the building blocks of social order, this article claims that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International organization 2014, Vol.68 (1), p.143-176
Main Author: Adler-Nissen, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
AIDS
Austria
Cold wars
Constructivism
Cuba
Deviance
Discourse analysis
Ethics
Ethnomethodology
Federal Republic of Germany
Gays & lesbians
Identity
International organizations
International Relations
International society
International studies
Labeling
Management
Morals
Nazism
Normativity
Norms
Social Order
Social stigma
Socialization
Society
Sociology
Stereotypes
Stigma
Stigmatization
Strategic management
Studies
Typology
Values
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Summary:This article develops a theoretical approach to stigma in international relations and resituates conventional approaches to the study of norms and international order. Correcting the general understanding that common values and norms are the building blocks of social order, this article claims that international society is in part constructed through the stigmatization of “transgressive” and norm-violating states and their ways of coping with stigma. Drawing on Erving Goffman, this article shows that states are not passive objects of socialization, but active agents. Stigmatized states cope strategically with their stigma and may, in some cases, challenge and even transform a dominant moral discourse. A typology of stigma management strategies is presented: stigma recognition (illustrated by Germany); stigma rejection (illustrated by Austria); and finally counter-stigmatization (illustrated by Cuba). Because of the lack of agreement on what constitutes normal state behavior, attempts to impose stigma may even have the opposite effect—the stigmatizers become the transgressive. A focus on stigma opens up new avenues for research on norms, identities, and international order.
ISSN:0020-8183
1531-5088
DOI:10.1017/S0020818313000337