The Micro Processes of International Norm Diffusion: The Case of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Abstract

The Geneva Conventions of the late 19th century began the pursuit of enshrining necessary human security and human rights standards in international law. Through continuous learning, international actors have expanded the meaning of human rights to include the safety of person for all global citizens. Although many rights have been ratified in international law, many actors continue to recognize different rights. As the global community continues to imagine new rights, the need for a means to advocate these rights, and diffuse them into society becomes a must. This paper, therefore, is designed to support human rights advocates in their campaigns to ensure more necessary rights are ratified in international law. This will be done through the conceptualization of a new micro-level model of norm diffusion, based off of Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink’s macro-level model. The micro-level model of norm diffusion goes beyond current structures of norm diffusion, further advancing our understanding of not only the physical activities that must be accomplished to diffuse an idea into a norm, but also the cognitive reasoning that must be understood in order graft an idea to personal understandings of the logic of appropriateness. By advancing the cognitive reasoning behind how ideas turn into norms at an individual level, norm entrepreneurs can better frame their idea to resonate with the international society, further turning the idea into a taken-for-granted norm.