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Martha Finnemore (born 1959) is an American constructivist scholar of
international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...
, and University Professor at the
Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...
at
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...
. She is considered among the most influential international relations scholars. Her scholarship has highlighted the role of norms and culture in international politics, as well as shown that
international organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
are consequential and purposive social agents in world politics that can shape state interests.


Biography

She is best known for her books ''National Interests in International Society,'' ''The Purpose of Intervention,'' and ''Rules for the World'' (with Michael Barnett) which helped to pioneer constructivism. According to a review of her 1996 book ''National Interests in International Society'', Finnemore became "the first scholar of international relations to offer a sustained, systematic empirical argument in support of the constructivist claim that international normative structures matter in world politics." In ''The Purpose of Intervention'' (2003)'','' she finds that the types of military interventions that states engage in have changed over time. For example, it was accepted practice for states to intervene militarily to collect debts during the 19th century, but it became widely rejected in the 20th century. Similarly, she shows that the type and frequency of humanitarian interventions have changed drastically since the 19th century, with a massive increase in humanitarian interventions since the end of the Cold War. According to Finnemore, existing realist and liberal theories of international relations cannot account for these changes. Using a constructivist approach, she finds that changing normative contexts led states to conceive of their interests differently. International norms altered common understandings of the appropriate ends and means of military intervention, as well as which humans were deserving of military protection by outsiders. In ''Rules for the World'' (2004), Finnemore and Barnett argue that international organizations derive power and autonomy from their
rational-legal authority Rational-legal authority (also known as rational authority, legal authority, rational domination, legal domination, or bureaucratic authority) is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to ...
and control of information. International organizations are therefore purposive social agents that can act inconsistently with the intentions of the founders of the organizations (which are often states). In contrast to some realist and liberal theories of international relations, Barnett and Finnemore show that international organizations are not just a reflection of state interests and that they do not necessarily act efficiently. International organizations can develop bureaucratic cultures that result in adverse outcomes (what they call "pathologies"). They list five mechanisms that breed organizational pathologies: # Irrationality of rationalization: when an organization sticks to existing rules and procedures regardless of circumstances rather than act in ways most appropriate for the circumstances # Universalism: the application of universal rules and categories may not reflect specific contexts # Normalization of deviance: deviations from existing rules can become normalized and lead to aberrational behaviors # Organizational insulation: when organizations do not get feedback from the environment about their performance and are unable to update their behavior # Cultural contestation: different cultures within an organization may lead to clashes that produce adverse outcomes Her 1998 study, co-authored with
Kathryn Sikkink Kathryn Sikkink (born 1955) is an author, human rights academic, and scholar of international relations working primarily through the theoretical strain of constructivism. She is currently at professor at Harvard Kennedy School. Academic career K ...
, on the life cycle of norms is among the most cited articles published in ''
International Organization An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
'', the leading International Relations journal. Finnemore and Sikkink identify three stages in the life cycle of a norm: # Norm emergence: Norm entrepreneurs seek to persuade others to adopt their ideas about what is desirable and appropriate # Norm cascade: When a norm has broad acceptance, with norm leaders pressuring others to adopt and adhere to the norm # Norm internalization: When the norm has acquired a "taken-for-granted" quality where compliance with the norm is nearly automatic In 2009, a survey of over 2700 international relations faculty in ten countries named her one of the twenty five most influential scholars in the discipline, and one of the five scholars whose work in the last five years has been the most interesting;. For 2014 results that if anything ranked her even more highly see an earlier survey of over 1000 American international relations faculty also ranked her similarly in both categories. In 2011, she was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Finnemore completed her
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
at
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, followed by an
M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
from the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
and a Ph.D. in 1991 from
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...
.


Books

*. *. Winner,
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orle ...
's Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book on government, politics, or international affairs, 2004. *.Review by Paul F. Diehl in ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 9: 129–130 (2007), . Winner,
International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs sin ...
Book Award, 2006, and Academic Council of the United Nations System Book Award, 2007.GWU Elliott School Professor Finnemore Awarded for her ''Rules of the World''
GWU, November 29, 2005.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnemore, Martha International relations scholars Harvard University alumni University of Sydney alumni Elliott School of International Affairs faculty Stanford University alumni George Washington University faculty 1959 births Living people Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American women political scientists American political scientists