Social Norms: A Social Analysis

In the international system of anarchy and complexity, the means of illustrating the key aspect of international society that influences the actions of states, and the motives behind their actions is a complicated process. According to some scholars, the norms of society, both internal and external to the domestic setting, and the conventional perceptions these provide surrounding key issues across the globe, are of upmost importance and hold the most influence upon states. These scholars suggest that states act based on ethical and morally concerned relations, as to correspond with the norms held by the members of their domestic population and the population of the globe. These ideas surrounding social norms however can be proved as somewhat
This essay will support the notion of realism, arguing that while norms are important in the international system, they will always be overruled by a state’s own need for survival and power in the international sphere of anarchy, and that therefore in terms of human rights and climate change, state’s actions will be influenced by the sole benefits they will achieve by choosing whether or not to act.
Norms refer to the behaviour that corresponds with the typical way of performing or carrying out a particular activity (Baylis, Smith and Owens, 571). Scholars such as Erskine (2010) believe that norms are a key feature to world politics. She illustrates that they hold “moral weight”, and therefore lay out a series of expectations that all states should base their actions upon. States are viewed to correspond with these expectations as to not be outcast from the ‘norm’ of international society. The norms relating to morals and ethics are viewed to be an important part of life
The norms surrounding climate change is that we should all contribute towards the solution, and that it is a significantly important issue that requires immediate attention (Vogler, 348-361). However the inequity surrounding the issue, and the economic problems associated with fixing it, has seen little progress in the fight against climate change. This is because the issue has not yet become serious enough for states to identify it as direct threat against themselves, or something that will further their power in the international system. According to lecturer Adam Bumpus (2016), the richer states emit the most amount of carbon into the atmosphere. This larger amount of carbon emittance is the very thing that drives economic growth and industries. For states to act upon climate change, they would be reducing their economic growth and therefore their wealth, making them vulnerable in the international system in order to morally act against the issue. Therefore states will only upon the issue when it becomes such a high security risk, that the process of reducing their economic growth will be a sacrifice needed to be made to maintain the state’s survival (Bumpus, 2016 and Vogler, 348-361). Therefore norms have little influence when it comes to the essential aspects of state survival in the international, and therefore climate