Modelling norm cluster expansion: the case of UNESCO’s heritage mandate

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Abstract
Recent scholarship has suggested that when norms are clustered together, they become either more resilient than standalone norms or may collide in practice. However, little attention has been paid to how, and under what conditions, norm clusters can evolve over time. This article addresses this lacuna by proposing a new model of norm cluster expansion. The model captures how clusters can evolve incrementally yet substantively through revising foundational problem(s) and value(s), disaggregating and advancing their core behaviour(s) and then re-aggregating them into a revised norm cluster. To explore the empirical utility of the model, this article focuses on the case study of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It documents the ways in which UNESCO responded to the destruction of World Heritage sites by terrorist groups from 2012 onwards by reframing the mandate that had driven much of the agency’s response to heritage destruction since its founding in 1945. That is, UNESCO oversaw an expansion from a norm cluster that emphasized the need to ‘Save the Heritage of the World’, towards a broader mandate that would ‘Prevent Threats to Human Security’. The case of UNESCO problematises the binary between resilience and collision, suggesting that norm clusters can expand by layering new elements onto foundational normative architecture. The article concludes that further research is needed to test the model’s applicability to other domains and to enhance our understanding of the complex role norm clusters play in International Relations.
Funding Information
  • Australian Research Council (DP200101468)

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