The new Oxford Handbook of Norms Research in International Relations, edited by Sassan Gholiaga (European University Viadrina), Phil Orchard (University of Wollongong), and Antje Wiener (University of Hamburg), provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in norms research bringing together leading global scholars to map the field’s diverse landscape. As the first of its kind, this handbook offers essential insights into the conceptual and methodological evolution of the field and is set to become the future international reference work.
As Section Editor IFSH Senior Researcher Holger Niemann was responsible for organising the Methods and Methodologies section of the handbook. Together with Katharina Glaab (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) Niemann also contributed a chapter on methodologies as distinct logics of inquiry. The chapter How to Study International Norms: From Methodologies to Methods in Norms Research illustrates how various "ways of knowing" provide guidance in methodological choices for norms researchers, demonstrating the methodological richness of the field and bridging the gap between quantitative-rationalist and qualitative-interpretive approaches. Holger Niemann also contributed a chapter with Henrik Schillinger (University of Duisburg-Essen) on Strategies for Coping with Contestation in Norms Research, which identifies three distinct coping strategies for addressing the fundamental dilemma of how norm meaning is both intersubjectively shared and essentially contested.
Learn more about the Handbook here.
Find an abstract of chapter 13 „How to Study International Norms: From Methodologies to Methods in Norms Research“ by Katharina Glaab and Holger Niemann here.
Find an abstract of chapter 39 „Strategies for Coping with Contestation in Norms Research“ by Holger Niemann and Henrik Schillinger here.
