La transformation des normes de participation et de durabilite en valeurs? Reflexions pour la theorie des regimes

In: Études internationales: revue trimestrielle, Band 34, Heft 4, S. 611-629

Abstract

While regimes theory has analyzed relatively well the process by which norms propagate, it fails to explain why & how an imposed norm or policy may become a value or a truth to international relations actors. The argument is that the legitimation process is the basis of a regime's emergence, persistence, & demise. This article proposes a Foucauldian version of regime theory, close to constructivism, as a potentially fruitful way of empirically addressing these questions. Some preliminary results of two research efforts now underway are presented, one on the dissemination of participation & sustainability norms in dams, the other on public participation in environmental public policy in France since the 1970s. The results of a third study, undertaken in Ghana in 1999, are also presented. Adapted from the source document.