Counter-Shaming and the Norm of Racial Equality

• In Event: International Criticism, Public Opinion, and Human Rights

Abstract

State and non-state actors often name and shame governments for violating international norms. This criticism, however, is not received in a political vacuum. Targeted governments and their proponents often try to spin information about violations to justify their actions. Recent research suggests that local elites can use counter-rhetoric to shift the impact of shaming and shape public perceptions of violations in their own country. It is unclear, however, whether counter-shaming can be used to shape public opinion in other countries, blocking attempts to name and shame in the first place. We argue that by provoking normative concerns and framing criticism as illegitimate, proponents of shamed governments can use the norm of racial equality to impact public opinion and reverse the effects of shaming. We test our theory on U.S. public opinion of Israel, a country frequently shamed on international platforms, whose supporters often claim its criticism is rooted in antisemitism, violating the norm of racial equality. We field an online survey experiment in the U.S. and manipulate information that counter-shames criticism of Israel, as well as the identity of counter-shamers. We hypothesize that respondents who are treated with antisemitism frames are more likely to support Israel and less likely to criticize it.

Authors

• Zoltan I. Buzas, University of Notre Dame

• Lotem Bassan-Nygate, UW - Madison/Harvard Kennedy School