The Geopolitics of Shaming

“Winner of the Best Book Award, International Collaboration 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, Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association”“Winner of the Lepgold Prize, Georgetown University”“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“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“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”[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 valuable contribution to our understanding of human rights enforcement in the international arena.”—Brett J. Kyle, International Dialogue

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