Arrested Development: The Fight to End Commercial Whaling as a Case of Failed Norm Change

Abstract

The International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling took effect in 1986, seemingly marking the adoption of a new norm, that commercial whaling was no longer acceptable. But this norm has failed to become institutionalized. This article uses the norm life-cycle approach as developed by Finnemore and Sikkink (1998) to account for this failure. The effort ran aground because the norm proved unexpectedly ambiguous, a supporting epistemic community failed to emerge, the norm conflicted with other powerful norms, the prestige of the key anti-whaling states declined relative that of whaling states, and NGO tactics failed to win over the publics in key whaling states and instead created a counter-boomerang effect. The attempt may have resulted in the emergence of an alternative norm, but actors must act now to institutionalize it.

Cyber Futures and the Justice Motive: Avoiding Pyrrhic Victory

“…Unfortunately, the norms literature provides limited guidance on how actors respond when they believe norms have been violated. One group of studies focused on how norms are diffused (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998;Keck and Sikkink 1998;Acharya 2004) and changed (Sandholtz 2008), as well as how they decay and disappear (Bailey 2008;Panke and Petersohn 2012). Analytical emphasis has been on the norms themselves as the objects of analysis.…”

“…Wendt noted the possibility that predation in benign anarchies might play a role in the emergence of self-help systems, as other actors emulate "bad apples" (1992, p. 408409). This argument associates norm violation with norm decay or disappearance (Bailey 2008;Panke and Petersohn 2012) though it should not be conflated with the realist argument that norms are epiphenomenal (Mearsheimer 1994/95). In such cases, for constructivists, benign rules and norms are eventually replaced by nastier ones.…”

Norms Contestation: Insights from Morphogenesis Theory

“…Studies have focused on, for example, the rise of the international norms for election-monitoring (Kelley 2008), the nuclear taboo (Tannanwald 1999), or the chemical weapons taboo (Price 2007). Apart from these successful evolutions of international norms, scholars have also assessed international norms that have failed to develop, such as the anti-whaling norm (Bailey 2008). Attempts have also made to analyze those international norms that are established but the definition and meanings of which have changed over time, for instance regarding the use of force (Alkopher 2007).…”

From Advocacy to Confrontation: Direct Enforcement by Environmental NGOs

“…Yet, since the 1970s, whaling has been held up by Japanese nationalists as a component of collective identity (Hirata :187‐189; Blok ). The anti‐whaling campaign has also triggered a public opinion backlash in Iceland and Norway, where it appears to have harmed the image of anti‐whaling groups and where pro‐whaling organizations such as the World Council of Indigenous people and the High North Alliance have gained in strength (Andresen and Skodvin :121, 142–143; Bailey :302–303, 312). This confirms our hypothesis that strategies of shaming and persuasion based on moral and emotional arguments are vulnerable to backlash where conflicting economic and cultural interests are at stake.…”