ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the norm entrepreneurship by Afro-descendants and Dalits has followed a path very similar to that forged by indigenous peoples and Roma before them. They have sought to build a group-specific set of norms that would recognise their group, fulfil their claims and increase their leverage vis-a-vis states. Their efforts have been supported by a wide variety of international actors and influenced by a select number of critical states. The 2001 World Conference Against Racism was a pivotal juncture in many ways. The comparison in this chapter offers the possibility to look beyond individual groups in order to provide insight into macro-level changes to the international minority rights protection system. Several questions shape the concluding analysis. What evidence is there that norm emergence has occurred? What factors have influenced the success or failure of norm emergence? How have the material and ideational interests of states impacted on norm entrepreneurship? What commonalities in norm entrepreneurship can be identified across the cases? How has norm emergence impacted on the groups in focus, other minority communities and on international society? The answers to these questions can help us to understand minority-state relations in international society and the influence that even the most marginalised groups can wield when using the mechanisms of transnational social mobilisation.
