Skip to main content
Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

Princeton University Press

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
book: The Geopolitics of Shaming
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The Geopolitics of Shaming

When Human Rights Pressure Works—and When It Backfires
  • and
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2023

About this book

A bold new perspective on the strategic logic of international human rights enforcement

When a government violates the rights of its citizens, the international community can respond by exerting moral pressure and urging reform. Yet many of the most egregious violations appear to go unpunished. In many cases, shaming not only fails to induce compliance but also incites a backlash, provoking resistance and worsening human rights practices. The Geopolitics of Shaming presents a new theory on the strategic logic of international human rights enforcement, revealing why and how states punish violations in other countries, when shaming leads to an improvement in human rights conditions, and when it backfires.

Drawing on a wide range of evidence—from large-scale cross-national data to original survey experiments and detailed case studies—Rochelle Terman shows how human rights shaming is a deeply political process, one that operates in and through strategic relationships. Arguing that preexisting geopolitical relationships condition both the causes and consequences of shaming in world politics, she shows how adversaries are quick to condemn human rights abuses but often provoke a counterproductive response, while friends and allies are the most effective shamers but can be reluctant to impose meaningful sanctions.

Upending conventional wisdom on the role of norms in world affairs, The Geopolitics of Shaming demonstrates that politicization is integral to—not a corruption of—the success of the global human rights project.

Author / Editor information

Rochelle Terman is assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago.

Reviews

"An important book about the efficacy of human rights shaming. . . . [The Geopolitics of Shaming] makes a fine contribution not only to the scholarly discussion of human rights shaming in international relations, but it is also a meaningful addition to our understanding of why and how shaming can have an effect on interstate behaviour."---Mark Weston Janis, Netherlands International Law Review --- "A valuable contribution to our understanding of human rights enforcement in the international arena."---Brett J. Kyle, International Dialogue --- "[The Geopolitics of Shaming] challenges conventional wisdom on the role of norms in world affairs and demonstrates that politicization is integral to the success of the global human rights project. . . . For human rights promoters, this study provides a warning on the potential risks of shaming. The key insight is that, when it comes to enforcing human rights, the critic matters as much as (and perhaps more than) the criticism."---Zheng Chen, China International Strategy Review --- "A solid basis in which to interrogate shaming and think through its impacts – [The Geopolitics of Shaming] is thus a necessary read for policymakers and activists alike."---Usman Butt, Middle East Monitor --- "Rochelle Terman establishes a new theoretical approach to examine when shaming improves human rights conditions, when it is ineffective and when it is counterproductive. . . . An invaluable contribution."---Serena Clark, International Affairs --- "Terman breaks important ground in illuminating when, how, and under what conditions states engage in ‘naming and shaming’ other countries to punish them for human rights transgressions . . . [She] does not deny the importance of upholding human rights standards, but she does demonstrate quite elegantly that politics and state interests lurk at every turn."---G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs --- "Winner of the Lepgold Prize, Georgetown University" --- "Winner of the Best Book Award, Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association" --- "Winner of the Theodore J. Lowi First Book Award, American Political Science Association" --- "Winner of the Best Book Award, International Collaboration Section of the American Political Science Association"

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
    Download PDF
  • Publicly Available

    CONTENTS

    vii
    Download PDF
  • Publicly Available

    List of Figures and Tables

    ix
    Download PDF
  • Publicly Available

    Acknowledgments

    xi
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    1 Introduction

    1
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    2 A Relational Theory of International Shaming: The Shamer

    27
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    3 A Relational Theory of International Shaming: The Target

    47
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    4 Interstate Shaming in the Universal Periodic Review

    69
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    5 International Shaming and Domestic Politics

    95
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    6 Applications

    126
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    7 Conclusion

    155
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    Works Cited

    171
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    Index

    195
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    A NOTE ON THE TYPE

    200
    Download PDF

Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
October 12, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780691250496
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691250496
eBook ISBN: 9780691250496
Keywords for this book
human rights; international relations; politics; political science; international organizations; naming and shaming; United Nations; Universal Periodic Review; international norms; domestic politics; targets of shaming; shamers; social sanctions; human rights abusers; strategic relationships; international shaming; international human rights; human rights violations; human rights enforcement; political theory; moral persuasion; policymaking; international monitoring; sexuality rights; state behavior; international pressure; punishment strategy; public opinion; UPR; Transnational advocacy; world affairs; international relations
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
Downloaded on 17.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691250496/html
Scroll to top button