《Social Sciences in China》26 Jul 2017
China and the Remolding of International Human Rights Norms
Yuan Zhengqing, Li Zhiyong & Zhufu Xiaofei
The life cycle of international norms is not actually a process of emergence, diffusion and internalization. As is shown by the logic of argumentation and the relational logic of processoriented constructivism, the development of international norms may take another approach, one of origination, diffusion and remolding. Through dialogues on norms, discourse critique, self-remolding and other means, China has enriched the practice of remolding international human rights norms with a human rights theory centered on the right to survive and develop, thereby providing a new approach and new angle of vision that allows non-Western countries to break away from the monist approach of norm development.
Keywords: norm remolding, human rights, logic of argumentation, logic of relationships
Is the life cycle of international norms a process of emergence, diffusion and internalization? Ever since Martha Finnemore put forward this proposition in 1998, the international relations world has conducted numerous micro-level studies of the different stages of norm development, producing a great number of research findings that have filled out and refined the proposition. Their examination of norm decline and localization has broadened the horizons of this research, yet questions have been seldom raised about the proposition itself.
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I. The Present Situation: Reflecting on International Norm Research
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II. The Definition, Logic and Mechanisms of Norm Remolding
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III. China’s Practice in the Remolding of International Human Rights Norms
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