| Many transnational campaigns, and particularly the transnational campaign against gender-based violence, promote norms for which non-state actors are the primary transgressors. What happens when international and local norms collide? When does transnational activism lead individuals and communities to abandon local norms and embrace international ones? The dissertation presents a theoretical framework for micro-level normative change with respect to the gender-based violence issues of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, focusing in particular on changes in awareness, attitudes, and behavior. I argue that transnational activism against FGM and early marriage is most likely to reduce the actual incidence of these practices when communities are exposed to intense, high quality campaigning and when ethnic heterogeneity and the presence of local elites among the set of activists make it less costly for individuals to defect from local norms. I further argue that the success of transnational activism depends on the salience of the international norm to the international community and of the local norm to the local community. To evaluate the theory, I administered an original representative survey and conducted approximately 130 in-depth interviews among Maa-speaking peoples in three rural Kenyan communities. In addition to studying genuine norm change, I employed a randomized experiment in the context of the survey to gauge respondents' willingness to misrepresent their commitment to the international norms against FGM and early marriage, and found that respondents who were told the survey would reach an international audience were more likely to deny engaging in the two practices. |
