Finnemore and Sikkink’s norms life cycle model (NLCM) is a powerful heuristic device that continues to be a mandatory point of reference for theoretical and empirical scholarship on norm change. Yet the internalisation stage as conceptualised in the NLCM is problematic. Drawing from Wiener’s Theory of Contestation, this article proposes to reconceptualise the norm internalisation stage as the phase at the extreme of the norm cascade in which inherently contested norms simultaneously enjoy formal validity, social recognition, and cultural validation among stakeholders. Unlike Finnemore and Sikkink’s, this conceptualisation focuses solely on norm validity and does not assume ‘almost automatic’ compliance. While Finnemore and Sikkink emphasise habit and institutionalisation as mechanisms of internalisation, the proposed conceptualisation highlights the role of applicatory contestation under conditions of high contestedness. Furthermore, I argue that internalised norms continue to be contested. Finally, my conceptualisation explicitly incorporates norm regression as the fourth stage of the NLCM. Norms might regress because they become obsolete, they change, or they are replaced. To assess the descriptive power of the proposed conceptualisation vis-à-vis Finnemore and Sikkink’s, the article applies them to the analysis of the norm that prohibits torture.

Contrary to what is often assumed, norm-internalisation does not always lead to compliance. Normative judgements may be simultaneously internalised and outwardly rejected. Non-compliance is at times a result of hyper-awareness of the particular origin of norms, rather than an unwillingness of the would-be-recipients to do ‘good’ deeds, or their inability to understand what is ‘good’. Such is often the case for non-Western states, as I demonstrate in this article by utilising the sociological concepts of stigma and stigmatisation. In its inability to acknowledge this dynamic, which has its roots in the colonial past of the international order, the constructivist model of norm-diffusion commits two errors. On the one hand, it falls short as a causal explanation, conflating internalisation with socialisation, and socialisation with compliance. On the other hand, it reproduces existing hierarchies in the international system, treating only non-compliance as endogenously driven, but compliance as a result of external stimuli. As there is a great deal of correlation between non-compliance and political geography, such a depiction, coupled with the fact that most norms under scrutiny are ‘good’ norms, once again casts non-Western states as having agency only when they commit ‘bad’ deeds.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) have emerged as bovine mastitis pathogens in many countries. CNS mastitis is generally mild but can persist in the udder for long periods. Pathogenesis of CNS intramammary infection is not well understood. In the present study, adhesion, invasion and intracellular replication of twenty-two CNS strains isolated from bovine mastitis and the effect of bovine lactoferrin (bLf) on the internalization were studied in vitro in a bovine mammary epithelial (BME) cell model. The CNS strains were of Staphylococcus chromogenes, Staph. simulans, Staph. epidermidis, Staph. haemolyticus and Staph. cohnii urealyticus; two strains of Staph. aureus were used as controls. Seven of the CNS strains originated from persistent and five from transient mastitis infections. The in-vitro susceptibility of the strains to bLf was also investigated. All CNS species examined had an adhesive ability equal to that of Staph. aureus, but internalization varied among staphylococcal strains. The antagonistic effect of bLf on the adhesion and invasion of CNS strains was weak, but bLf significantly decreased intracellular replication and replication rates of CNS. No correlation between the in-vitro susceptibility of the strain to bLf or internalization among clinical signs of mastitis was established. No difference between the persistent and transient CNS strains in adhesion, invasion or replication rate was recorded. This in-vitro BME cell model can be used to study the virulence potential of mastitis pathogens, although the severity and persistence of eventual infections shall be further investigated in vivo. The role of bLf in intramammary infection caused by CNS may be limited.

The aim of the present study was to explore the potential relationship between affect related to female perception of male preference for the female thin ideal (“Sensitivity to Male Preference”) and female body image and self-esteem. Ninety-three, heterosexual, female undergraduate students (M = 19.78, SD = 2.66) completed a series of questionnaires which tapped Body Image Dissatisfaction, Body Image Discrepancy, Appearance Schema and Self-Worth. The “Female Perception of Male Preference Questionnaire” (devised specifically for the purpose of the present study) assessed Sensitivity to Male Preference. Results indicated that females who expressed greater negative affect in relation to their perception of male preference for the female thin ideal also showed higher levels of body image dissatisfaction, appearance schema, discrepancy (between their perceived current and ideal figures), and lower levels of self-worth. Findings suggest that female perception of male preference may be an important variable when considering factors that influence female body image and self-esteem, and thus warrant further attention in research.