The Movement to Combat Sex-Trafficking: International Norm Development and Socio-Political Change

Scholarship offers several models to explain international norm development and global socio-political change. This research offers a comparative analysis between the tightly coupled Norm Life Cycle model and the loosely coupled Bee Swarm model from world polity theory. I critique the Norm Life Cycle model as having three problematic components 1) actor-centered, 2) historically narrow, and 3) linear. Using the anti-sex trafficking movement as a case study, this research finds that the loosely coupled perspective prevails. Pre-existing institutions created the environment for norm development processes. Institutional workspaces create the foundation for actors to act and come together. The Bee Swarm model is more inclusive and captures more nuanced aspects of social change.