This chapter studies norm contestation that led to norm clarification (frame and claim agreement). It compares the United States’s (US) contestation of the right to self-defense with its contestation of the prohibition of torture in the context of international terrorism. These episodes of contestation weakened the contested norms while ongoing. However, they eventually led to norm clarification through widespread acceptance of the US’s broadening of the right to self-defense and through widespread rejection of a narrowing of the torture prohibition. This norm clarification respectively increased or affirmed social and relative strength of the contested norms. The variation in outcome indicates that the preferred norm interpretations of materially powerful states do not always prevail. In this chapter, I engage in a fine-grained discourse analysis. Among others, this illustrates that whether proponents of norm change seek generally applicable norm change or covert exceptionalism affects argumentation, and that in-group reactions to norm interpretations are consequential.

This chapter focuses on the "alternate endings" typology. Building on theories of political rhetoric, we can break norms down into norm frames (norm-based justifications) and behavioral claims (conclusions for actions) and identify four alternate endings of norm contestation: norm impasse, norm neglect, norm recognition and norm clarification. Whether states (dis)agree on frames, claims, or both affects the stability of these alternate endings and norm strength. As identifying frames and claims in actors’ interpretations of international law is the cornerstone of this book, this chapter first provides detailed guidance on different kinds of norm frame and claim disagreements. It then analyzes the relative stability of each "alternate ending" and shows that frame agreement is an internal source of stability. Norm strength is conceptualized as the extent of collective expectations related to applying a norm of international law in a certain way. Norms are stronger when these collective expectations are clearer (social norm strength), and are held by more (critical) actors and/or cover more situations (relative norm strength). The chapter shows that the "alternate endings" typology can anchor the assessment of how contestation affects collective expectations. This approach provides a more actor-centric assessment of norm strength, compared to other prominent approaches.

This chapter explores ecoviolence along the Sea of Cortez, and Mexican cartels’ decades-long monopoly of the illegal drug market. Through this illicit economy, we unpack the convergence of illegal waste dumping, the illegal wildlife trade, money laundering, and human smuggling, and the role that Mexican, Chinese, and Fujian criminal organizations play in regional, interregional, and transnational exchanges to further criminal activities. The Sea of Cortez is a fascinating case study due to its geographic location as a historical hub for smuggling multiple commodities such as totoaba bladders, shark fins, drugs, diamonds, and precious metals. But the smuggling of immigrants has now come under the purview of these criminal networks. The chapter concludes with proposing a new analytical framework for studying ecoviolence, building expert capacity for undertaking research and analysis of policy development and enforcement.

This chapter focuses on the impact of ecoviolence – in particular, climatic uncertainty – on the language and culture of three areas within the Northwest Wales Coastline and within the county of Gwynedd. These are considered the Cadarnleoedd y Gymraeg. The Cadarnleoedd is often contested as a political tool rather than a formally recognised linguistic or cultural territory, as is the Gaeltacht in Ireland and the Gaidhealtachd in Scotland. Here, it is used to describe the areas in Wales where the Welsh language is strongest, with at least 50 per cent of the population able to speak it. There has been a consistent decrease in the number of people able to speak Welsh in Wales, which is challenging the sustainability of the language in its traditional heartlands.

This chapter analyzes the norm impasses over the status of Kosovo after its declaration of independence in February 2008 and over the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia following the 2008 August war. Both cases happened within quick succession, revolved around the same well-established norms in the United Nations (UN) Charter – the rights to territorial integrity vs. self-determination – and showed an interesting reversal of sides: While the United States (US) and European states recognized Kosovo’s statehood and rejected Russia’s emphasis on Serbian territorial integrity, the US and European states rejected Russia’s support of South Ossetia’s statehood and emphasized Georgian territorial integrity. These norm impasses became protracted because each side received social support from key audiences, or at least only muted criticism, for their interpretations, lowering the cost of disagreement. These disputes show both the power and limits of international law: The US’s sui generis frame and Russia’s quasi-legal argumentation indicate that there is a strong collective expectation regarding using international law to justify claims. Yet these cases also indicate that protracted norm impasses weaken individual norms: Unclear norm meaning gives leeway for interpretation, which can be used to craft interpretations that appeal to important audiences and thereby reduce pressure to abandon contested norm interpretations.

The causes of climate change are largely due to the carbon emission activities of nation states and transnational corporations. This chapter considers these activities as crimes of the powerful, a form of ecocide, insofar as they contribute to global warming. In addition to exploring the contours of ecocide as a crime, the chapter deals with issues pertaining to contrarianism and the exploitation of natural resources, both of which protect and sustain sectional private interests rather than the majority public interest. The chapter argues that needed social transformations must go beyond “speaking truth to power” to actually confront the powerful. How this might be accomplished is examined through consideration of green capitalism, the movement toward just transitions, the idea of a Green New Deal, and the importance of transformational nationalisation. Combatting the violence of ecocide fundamentally requires root and branch change in the global political economy.

This chapter provides an historical context for the emergence, and continuation, of a frontier logic of ecoviolence in Guyana, analyzing the hyper-exploitation of the Ameridians, minors and migrants in the mining sector. While Guyana’s Indigenous peoples, the Amerindians, named their home the “Land of Many Waters”, towns and villages such as Rose Hall, New Amsterdam, Queenstown and Anna Regina serve as a reminder of the European colonial regimes which spearheaded capitalist, frontier logics of extractivism which spatialized ecoviolence and precarity; the theft of Indigenous lands and territories; and ongoing structural racial, gender, and economic disparities intersected with environmental injustice. The return of neoliberal frontiers of logic and hyper-exploitation of workers forces readers to think more holistically about harm and hyper-exploitation.

This chapter analyzes one of the most visible consequences of ecocide: eco-migration. The international criminal justice system does not include detrimental effects of ecocide or of social harm resulting in forced migration flows as a genuine crime capable of being prosecuted. However, a recent landmark United Nations Human Rights Committee decision claims that people should not be returned to their place of origin if climate change appears to constitute a threat. The United Nations Refugee Agency also welcomes such a pioneering ruling since it lays the ground for potentially effective international protection. This work examines the contemporary loophole regarding eco-displacements and ecocide and clamors for both legal and criminological international conceptualisation at ensuring the rights of eco-migrants, considering the future number of eco-migrants is unforeseeable.

Global fisheries have been described as being in a state of crisis, characterized by declining global catches, overfishing and collapse of important fish stocks. Following this, the policy debates have been centered around the concept of “sustainable fisheries.” Initially, this debate focused on how to ensure sustainable fisheries from an environmental perspective and how to overcome existing problems with overfishing, while at the same time, ensuring profitability, jobs, livelihood opportunities as well as responding to the increasing concerns over illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing practices. This chapter provides a systematic review of the emerging literature on labor-related problems in the fishing sector, and provides a detailed account of the main steps taken in recent years by one select private governance approach, the community of practice surrounding FIPs, to more effectively address the violence behind labor-related concerns.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining offers opportunities to a diverse set of actors operating in formal, legal and clandestine realms. The sector has considerable expansion potential but it is hampered by corruption, illegal actors and a poorly regulated market. This chapter focuses on Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners (ASM) in Uganda, exploring ongoing tensions between ASM communities, mining firms, and the government. While enforcing health and safety laws in the extractive industry has proven challenging to departments responsible for worker health and safety, the government in Uganda is trying to establish a structured approach with detailed legal and technical collaboration between artisanal miners and technical people whose obligation is to offer legal and technical guidance in regulating ASM.

This chapter identifies factors that are extrinsic to norms and affect the stability of the alternate endings. Three classical elements of rhetoric guide the analysis: speakers, audiences, and arguments. The chapter first discusses my focus on critical states with decision-making authority. Speakers need the support of important audiences to avoid or reduce social and material costs of proposing "inappropriate" norm interpretations. Some audiences are more important than others: Speakers are likely to prioritize gaining approval for their norm interpretations from their in-groups and domestic audiences. The chapter gives guidance on identifying in-groups. Speakers try to gain support for their norm interpretations through their argumentation: We would expect the use of legal language and output legitimation when norm interpretations are openly proposed, and identity-based legitimation when actors try to hide exceptionalist norm interpretations. Lastly, I draw attention to a particular kind of speaker – agents to whom norm interpretation was delegated. When agents are involved, perceptions of agent competence also affect what interpretations can be upheld. The chapter concludes that audience reactions, argumentation, and delegation to agents affect the extent of collective expectations surrounding norm application, and thus norm strength.