Shaming to 'green': Australia-Japan relations and whales and tuna compared

Publication Type:
Journal Article
Citation:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2013, 13 (1), pp. 95 - 123
Issue Date:
2013-01-01
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In this article, we consider how states wield shaming strategies to 'be green' and to try to influence other states to 'become green' - environmentally responsible states. We compare Australia-Japan relations in the international politics of whales and tuna, respectively, and show that only at the level of norms and identities, rather than material interests, can two seemingly contradictory behaviors be reconciled, where a country shames another in one case (whales) and deliberately spares it from shaming in another (tuna). We argue that each issue reveals two different ways in which Australia seeks to construct itself as an environmentally responsible state, following a 'preservationist' and a 'conservationist' paradigm, respectively. We thus contribute to the constructivist understanding of the role of norms of global environmental politics and of the links between norms, identities, and the choice of shaming as an instrument of foreign policy. © The author [2012]. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the Japan Association of International Relations; all rights reserved.
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