China Social Science Review

No.3, 2021

The Evolutionary Logic of Research on International Norms and Its Future Orientation

(Abstract)

Yuan Zhengqing and Xiao Yingying

International norms are an important aspect of research on international relations, one that has expanded and deepened since the emergence of constructivism. Our exploration of the life cycle model of international norms has focused on identifying the evolution of research on norms and outlined its changing trajectory from diffusion at the structural level, localization at the level of the actor, and contested discourse at the level of process, a phenomenon that results from the logical evolution of the research itself but is also the result of the real-world impetus of profound global changes unseen for a hundred years. Emerging economies represented by China have reshaped the global power pattern as not only the recipients of norms but also normative innovators. The development of cyberspace norms is a reflection of this changing reality. Future research on norms will pay more attention to the role of non-western countries and those in the global south, and will focus on as yet unknown new frontiers and new rules.