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Abstract

This study considers norm resistance as a concept and how it works in the context of international minority rights norms. Minority rights norms broadly deal with the status and treatment of minority groups. While norms research in International Relations (IR) has identified processes and mechanisms by which international norms diffuse into domestic contexts, empirical evidence suggests that there are many international norms that do not diffuse. International minority rights norms are among these as is evidenced by the great number of violations of minority rights that take place across the world. A comprehensive understanding of such non-diffusion is lacking in the literature on norms and human rights. The present study seeks to contribute to such an understanding by suggesting that the non-diffusion of norms in some cases entails an active resistance against such diffusion and by introducing into the literature the concept of norm resistance. It fills a gap in the existing literature on norms by investigating norm resistance specific to minority rights at the international level. Using country cases from the Middle East, it also identifies mechanisms by which state actors can actively resist the diffusion of international minority rights norms.

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