Human Security Norm Dynamics

This set of research projects explores the origins, impact and evolution of international norms protecting human rights and human security.

Whether children and armed conflict, torture, targeted killing, refugee protection, climate change or rules around cluster munitions and nuclear weapons, much of my research revolves around the life cycles of international norms, from origin to implementation to contestation to potential decline. Published research includes work on why some norms evolve but not others, why human security norms get applied to some populations and not others, why humanitarian organizations sometimes implement norms in counterproductive ways, and how populations can be 'un-socialized' as well as socialized into normative understandings. Research in progress includes work on how and why liberal democracies undermine human security norms; whether human security treaties affect non-signatories; and whether the presence of women makes a difference in international norm compliance.