Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance
Social meta-norms, including human rights, gender equality, equity and environmental justice, are mainstream principles of good environmental governance. The permeation of social meta-norms through global environmental goals, policies and agreements (e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals) is now g...
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doaj-19c9c752f9014b289590faa0a477c5492021-01-02T05:13:16ZengElsevierEarth System Governance2589-81162020-12-016100052Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governanceSarah Lawless0Andrew M. Song1Philippa J. Cohen2Tiffany H. Morrison3ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811; Corresponding author.ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811; WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, 11960, Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811; WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, 11960, Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang, MalaysiaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811Social meta-norms, including human rights, gender equality, equity and environmental justice, are mainstream principles of good environmental governance. The permeation of social meta-norms through global environmental goals, policies and agreements (e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals) is now generally accepted to be critical to the integrity of the Earth's system and to social dignity and opportunities for humanity. Yet, little is known about how globally articulated social meta-norms lead to shifts in action at other scales of governance. Specifically, analysis of the discursive and dynamic nature of social meta-norm diffusion is lacking. To build a better understanding of what shapes the diffusion of social meta-norms across different scales of environmental governance, we provide a synthesis that bridges political and sociological theory and underscores the critical role of agency in the diffusion process. We identify eight drivers of diffusion along a spectrum that ranges from prescriptive drivers, which leave little space for norm negotiation, to discursive drivers, which provide an enabling space for norm interpretation. We hypothesize these drivers intersect with a parallel spectrum of actor responses, ranging from complete resistance to social meta-norms at one end, to complete internalization of social meta-norms at the other. Our diagnostic of integrated drivers and responses is aimed at advancing conventional norm diffusion theory by providing a better account of discursive forces in this process. Applying these diagnostic elements to future empirical research has the potential to improve the rationale, speed, mode and impact of social meta-norm diffusion in multiscale environmental governance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811620300112Global normsNatural resource governanceMultiscaleNorm diffusionSocial principles |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sarah Lawless Andrew M. Song Philippa J. Cohen Tiffany H. Morrison |
spellingShingle |
Sarah Lawless Andrew M. Song Philippa J. Cohen Tiffany H. Morrison Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance Earth System Governance Global norms Natural resource governance Multiscale Norm diffusion Social principles |
author_facet |
Sarah Lawless Andrew M. Song Philippa J. Cohen Tiffany H. Morrison |
author_sort |
Sarah Lawless |
title |
Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
title_short |
Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
title_full |
Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
title_fullStr |
Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rights, equity and justice: A diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
title_sort |
rights, equity and justice: a diagnostic for social meta-norm diffusion in environmental governance |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Earth System Governance |
issn |
2589-8116 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Social meta-norms, including human rights, gender equality, equity and environmental justice, are mainstream principles of good environmental governance. The permeation of social meta-norms through global environmental goals, policies and agreements (e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals) is now generally accepted to be critical to the integrity of the Earth's system and to social dignity and opportunities for humanity. Yet, little is known about how globally articulated social meta-norms lead to shifts in action at other scales of governance. Specifically, analysis of the discursive and dynamic nature of social meta-norm diffusion is lacking. To build a better understanding of what shapes the diffusion of social meta-norms across different scales of environmental governance, we provide a synthesis that bridges political and sociological theory and underscores the critical role of agency in the diffusion process. We identify eight drivers of diffusion along a spectrum that ranges from prescriptive drivers, which leave little space for norm negotiation, to discursive drivers, which provide an enabling space for norm interpretation. We hypothesize these drivers intersect with a parallel spectrum of actor responses, ranging from complete resistance to social meta-norms at one end, to complete internalization of social meta-norms at the other. Our diagnostic of integrated drivers and responses is aimed at advancing conventional norm diffusion theory by providing a better account of discursive forces in this process. Applying these diagnostic elements to future empirical research has the potential to improve the rationale, speed, mode and impact of social meta-norm diffusion in multiscale environmental governance. |
topic |
Global norms Natural resource governance Multiscale Norm diffusion Social principles |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811620300112 |
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