Article contents
Entrenching ‘identity norms’ of tolerance and engagement: lessons from rapprochement between North and South Korea
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2007
Abstract
Revisiting the nexus of identities and norms, this article argues that actors’ attitude and policies are not the automatic reflection of a salient identity but the articulation of what I call ‘identity norms’, defined as standards of appropriate behaviour for in-group actors vis-à-vis an out-group. Central to my argument is that identities become straw men at times of momentous change, whilst identity norms, crafted and propagated through an intersubjective understanding amongst different actors, emerge as a guiding principle in state-to-state relations. By illustrating the trajectories of reconciliation between North and South Korea, this article examines the anomalies of how antagonistic states forge friendly ties.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © British International Studies Association 2007
- 4
- Cited by