China and the United Nations Human Rights Council : Understanding processes of socialization and norm shaping

Abstract: How China interacts internationally can affect human rights inside and outside its borders. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to understand China’s interaction with the United Nations Human Rights Council and its member-states. The analysis was constructed on the basis of two processes, socialization and norm shaping. These processes follow the constructivist ontology of agent and structure co-constitution. Hence, in analyzing socialization the concern was placed on how China has been drawn into pro-normative cooperation with the UN human rights regime, by identifying behavioral change through identity and language uses in official HR documents. Regarding norm shaping, attention was given to China’s agency and ability to individually and collectively shape the HRC, with a focus on alliance formations and group identification in eliciting China’s norm-shaper role. By applying the method of qualitative content analysis to the texts sampled, the main findings of the thesis are that China is actively interacting with the HRC, with evidence of socialization and norm shaping.