Norm entrepreneur

A norm entrepreneur is someone interested in changing social norms, a term coined by Cass Sunstein in his 1996 paper titled Social Norms and Social Roles. In his paper, Sunstein highlights that existing social conditions can often be more fragile than is typically assumed, as they depend on social norms to which many may not be strongly aligned. Sunstein identifies a category of people, who he calls norm entrepreneurs, who are interested in changing social norms. Their willingness and ability to persuade others of the desirability and appropriateness of certain behaviors drives the first stage of the norm life cycle – norm emergence. If they are successful in their endeavors they can produce what he calls norm bandwagons and norm cascades, which lead to substantial changes in social norms.

Wunderlich (2020) provides an overview of norms research and discusses the emergence and development of international norms. She defines norm entrepreneurship and presents a taxonomy of various types of norm entrepreneurs, exploring their motives, objectives, and delineating the tools and conditions for their success. Wunderlich argues there is a bias towards "feel-good" norm Entrepreneurship.