Norm engagement in conference room 4 of the UN building in New York

This chapter explores the contingencies of meeting dynamics to present a situated analysis of norm creation. It analyses a session of the CSW as a nodal point with its particular actors and specified in time and space. The practices associated with this specific space or venue are explored, and the situated nature of norm engagement is emphasized by a focus on contingency. As such, the chapter makes two contributions to the literature on norm creation. First, it highlights that the institutionalized norm creation in standing committees such as the CSW emphasizes the perpetual recreation of norms rather than the once-and-for-all establishment of an agreed norm that is subsequently disseminated by relevant actors. This underlines the vulnerability of norms. Secondly, the analysis explores whether negotiation dynamics may have unintended normative consequences making norm creation an undertaking dependent not only on persuasion by norm entrepreneurs or negotiation of diverse interests and preferences, but also on contingency.