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Just the facts: why norms remain relevant in an age of practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Miles M. Evers Open the ORCID record for Miles M. Evers [Opens in a new window]
Miles M. Evers*
Affiliation:
George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Reification – the act of treating something socially created as if it were real – is often described as a problem in the study of international norms. Critical and post-colonial scholars argue that reification silences alternative worldviews, whereas practice-oriented scholars argue it diminishes agency and practical innovation. In his article ‘From Norms to Normative Configurations,’ Simon Pratt proposes a solution to the problem of reification, reconceiving norms as a configuration of interrelated social practices. In this piece, I argue that the conventional wisdom is wrong. Reification is an essential part of how norms are constructed, contested, and surmounted in international politics. I revisit the foundational figures in norms research to highlight problems in Pratt's analysis, and prove the value of reification, both analytically and methodologically. Then, I use these insights to amend the concept of normative configuration, redefining it as a complex network of discrete norms tied together through common social practices. Along the way, I offer directions for future research on the relationship between norms and practices.

Keywords

practice turnnormsreificationnoncompliancecontestation
Type
Original Papers
Information
International Theory , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , July 2020 , pp. 220 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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