A Theory of Contestation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction: Contestation as a Norm-Generative Social Practice

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 1-15

3. The Normativity Premise: The Normative Power of Contestation

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 17-32

4. The Diversity Premise: The Legitimacy Gap in International Relations

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 33-44

5. Cultural Cosmopolitanism: Contestedness and Contestation

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 45-53

6. Thinking Tools and Central Concepts of the Theory of Contestation

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 55-62

7. Applying the Theory of Contestation: Three Sectors of Global Governance

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 63-77

8. Conclusion: Why a New Theory of Contestation?

   • Antje Wiener

   Pages 79-83

9. Back Matter

   Pages 85-95

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The Theory of Contestation advances critical norms research in international relations. It scrutinises the uses of ‘contestation’ in international relations theories with regard to its descriptive and normative potential. To that end, critical investigations into international relations are conducted based on three thinking tools from public philosophy and the social sciences: The normativity premise, the diversity premise and cultural cosmopolitanism. The resulting theory of contestation entails four main features, namely types of norms, modes of contestation, segments of norms and the cycle of contestation. The theory distinguishes between the principle of contestedness and the practice of contestation and argues that, if contestedness is accepted as a meta-organising principle of global governance, regular access to contestation for all involved stakeholders will enhance legitimate governance in the global realm.

• Contestation
• Global Governance
• Inernational Relations
• Norms
• Public Philosophy

“Wieners Vorschlag, Kontestation stärker zu theoretisieren und dabei verschiedene Ansätze zu kombinieren, ist sehr zu begrüßen. Ebenso ihr Versuch, dies durch formulierte Prämissen offenzulegen und aufzuzeigen, wo die Normenforschung anzusetzen habe. … Mit Ihrer Theory of Contestation bereitet Wiener … einen konstruktiven Einstieg in die theoretische Debatte um Normen und deren Kontestation, welche sicherlich die Grundlage für weitere Forschung bilden wird.” (Stefan Wallaschek , in: Politische Theorie und Ideengeschichte, Jg. 57, Heft 2, PVS 2016)

“In this groundbreaking work, Antje Wiener presents the first systematic account of the roles of practices of contestation in international relations and global governance. She focuses on the fundamental norm-generative power of practices of contestation - the basis of legitimacy – and maps the changes that a wide range of such practices bring about. In so doing she provides a new way of understanding change, as well as normativity, diversity and cosmopolitanism. It is a must read for anyone interested in these central issues of our time.” (James Tully, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Victoria)

“Wiener’s A Theory of Contestation makes an important intervention into the field of international norms. […] [It] offers both an explanatory theory of how norms are contested and a normative defense of why they should be contested. Wiener’s argument is threefold. First, she argues that contestation generates international norms. Second, she argues that all norms are potentially contestable. Third, she argues that because contestation is central to the generation, transformation, and implementation of norms, international relations scholars should draw upon the ‘thinking tools’ developed by political theorists who work on norm contestation in the area of democratic theory.” (Jonathan Havercroft, University of Southampton)

• Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Chair of Political Science especially Global Governance, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

  Antje Wiener

Antje Wiener, PhD Carleton (1996), Dipl Pol FU Berlin (1989) is a Professor of Political Science especially Global Governance at the University of Hamburg. Her previous publications include The Invisible Constitution of Politics: Contested Norms and International Encounters (CUP, 2008) and ‘European’ Citizenship Practice: Building Institutions of a Non-State (West view, 1998). She is founding co-editor of the interdisciplinary journal Global Constitutionalism (CUP, since 2012) and has published widely on norms in international relations theories, European integration theories and on global constitutionalism. She was named as Academician of the Social Sciences in the United Kingdom in 2011.

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