A Feminist Approach to the Study of Norm Implementation in the Global Refugee Regime

The field of refugee and forced migration studies has recently paid increased attention to questions of power, agency and refugee participation. At the same time, the literature focusing on norms and their implementation, primarily among constructivist international relations scholars, remains largely focused on the interests and behaviour of states and institutions. With refugee and forced migration studies increasingly engaged with the everyday politics of the refugee regime, it is useful for our understanding of norms to evolve in a similar way. In response, this dissertation asks: how can we advance our understanding of the implementation of people-centred norms in the global refugee regime, and explain variation in their implementation in different contexts? Using a feminist methodology, supported by interviews, UNHCR archival documents and grey literature, this dissertation examines the emergence and implementation of norms related to the protection of refugee women by states, institutions and refugees themselves, specifically, by the UNHCR, Canada, and refugee women in Thailand. The dissertation argues that while constructivist approaches are a useful starting point in explaining variation in implementation of norms, these tools are not in and of themselves adequate to explain the diversity of implementation processes we see in different contexts. In response, I draw on a feminist geopolitical approach to help explain power dynamics at different spaces, scales and timeframes by drawing on non-Western perspectives and decentering the state. Through the application of this framework, I further argue that there are three factors that together influence implementation that go above and beyond institutional factors, namely: the international political context in which a norm both emerges and is implemented; the proximity that a particular actor has to the issue that the norm is meant to address; and, finally, the actors involved in the articulation of the norm, and the defining of implementation. Taken together, these factors highlight the necessity of a more inclusive approach to the study of norm implementation in the global refugee regime. This approach will centre refugees themselves in the making, implementing and evaluating of norms, and recognizes that this inclusion may not fit neatly within our current understandings of implementation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Klassen, Amanda

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2026 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, distribution to students, research and scholarship. Theses may only be shared by linking to the Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be copied without proper attribution to the author; no part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2026-16960

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/45117