Socializing States Promoting Human Rights through International Law

Author: Ryan Goodman; Derek Jinks
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780199301003
Published In: October 2013
Format: Paperback , 240 pages
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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The book provides a new theory of how international law influences states. In developing this theory, it brings to bear a broad range of interdisciplinary materials—including, most importantly, sociological studies of globalization.

The role of international law in global politics is as poorly understood as it is important. But how can the international legal regime encourage states to respect human rights? Given that international law lacks a centralized enforcement mechanism, it is not obvious how this law matters at all, and how it might change the behavior or preferences of state actors. In Socializing States, Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks contend that what is needed is a greater emphasis on the mechanisms of law's social influence—and the micro-processes that drive each mechanism. Such an emphasis would make clearer the micro-foundations of international law. This book argues for a greater specification and a more comprehensive inventory of how international law influences relevant actors to improve human rights conditions. Substantial empirical evidence suggests three conceptually distinct mechanisms whereby states and institutions might influence the behavior of other states: material inducement, persuasion, and what Goodman and Jinks call acculturation. The latter includes social and cognitive forces such as mimicry, status maximization, prestige, and identification. The book argues that (1) acculturation is a conceptually distinct, empirically documented social process through which state behavior is influenced; and (2) acculturation-based approaches might occasion a rethinking of fundamental regime design problems in human rights law. This exercise not only allows for reexamination of policy debates in human rights law; it also provides a conceptual framework for assessing the costs and benefits of various design principles.

While acculturation is not necessarily the most important or most desirable approach to promoting human rights, a better understanding of all three mechanisms is a necessary first step in the development of an integrated theory of international law's influence. Socializing States provides the critical framework to improve our understanding of how norms operate in international society, and thereby improve the capacity of global and domestic institutions to build cultures of human rights,

Readership: Students and scholars of international law, international studies, human rights, sociology

Chapter 1. Introduction: Rethinking State Socialization and International Human Rights Law
A. The Empirical Study of International Law
B. Objectives of the Project
C. Theorizing State Socialization
D. Advancing the Understanding of State Socialization
E. Outline of the Book
PART I. A THEORY OF INFLUENCE
Chapter 2. Three Mechanisms of Social Influence
A. Material inducement
B. Persuasion
C. Acculturation
1. Acculturation as Incomplete Internalization: Distinguishing Persuasion
2. Acculturation as Social Sanctions and Rewards: Distinguishing Material Inducement
D. Illustration: Mechanisms of Influence in The Global Diffusion of Markets and Democracy
Chapter 3. Acculturation of States: The Theoretical Model
A. Socialization of the State
B. Acculturation and the Patterns of State Practice
1. Isomorphism across states
2. Decoupling within states
3. Global integration correlation
4. Social networks correlation
5. Institutionalization correlation
6. Contagion effects: adoption by other states is a predictor of subsequent adoption
7. Lack of correlation with geopolitical vulnerability or with powerful states' interests
8. Discerning the Process of Micro-Acculturation: Qualitative analysis and case studies
Chapter 4. Acculturation of States: The Empirical Record
A. Studies Outside of Human Rights
1. Environmental policy and public education
2. Network effects
B. Human rights studies
1. Constitutional design
2. Substantive rights protections: Children's rights and women's rights
3. Network effects and human rights
4. Regional/<"neighborhood>" effects: Simmons' Mobilizing for Human Rights
C. Objections and Clarifications
1. Does our account assume acculturation spreads desirable laws and policies?
2. Could material inducements provide an equally plausible explanation of the observed behavior?
3. Is global-level acculturation driven by hegemonic interests?
PART II. APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME DESIGN
Chapter 5. Conditional Membership: Socialization and the Community Delimitation
A. Material inducement
B. Persuasion
C. Acculturation
Chapter 6. Precision of Legal Obligations: Socialization and Rule-making
A. Material inducement
B. Persuasion
C. Acculturation
Chapter 7. Monitoring and Enforcement: Socialization and Rule-breakers
A. Material inducement
B. Persuasion
C. Acculturation
PART III. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STATE SOCIALIZATION
Chapter 8. State Acculturation and the Problem of Compliance
A. Acculturation without Decoupling
B. Acculturation with <"Benign>" or <"Facilitative>" Decoupling
C. Decoupling and <"Deep>" Reform
D. Moving beyond Decoupling: The progression of acculturation
1. Domestic political opportunity structure
2. The <"civilizing force of hypocrisy>" I: External audience effects
3. The <"civilizing force of hypocrisy>" II: Internal <"audience>" effects
4. Escalating demands by global civil society
5. Evolutionary state learning
6. The causal dispensability of domestic civil society/NGOs
E. Managing Decoupling: Designing institutions to reduce the gap
Chapter 9. Toward an Integrated Model of State Socialization
A. Taking Acculturation Seriously
B. Negative Interactions between Mechanisms
1. Conveyance of prevalence information
2. Overjustification and social signaling
3. Overjustification and self-perception
4. Overjustification and self-determination
5. <"A fine is a price>"
C. Sequencing Effects
D. Conditions for Mechanism Success
1. Targeting Capacity and Target Actor Characteristics
2. Influence agent characteristics
Chapter 10. Conclusion: Taking Stock and Future Research
A. Our Major Empirical Claims
B. Our Major Normative Applications
C. Future Normative Work
D. Future Empirical Work