Human Rights Shaming, Domestic Activism, and Nationalist Backlash

In the last three decades, scholars and activists have argued that international "naming and shaming" can improve human rights conditions around the world. In addition to applying pressure from "above," many argue that foreign shaming mobilizes domestic populations against their rights-violating governments. This paper challenges that conventional wisdom by breaking down the ways that shaming can affect the different beliefs and behaviors that lead to domestic mobilization. Drawing on survey experiments of a nationally representative sample of Americans, we show that while human rights shaming may increase some groups' stated support for human rights reforms, it has counterproductive effects on important related beliefs-in particular, higher nationalist sentiments and hostility towards domestic and international advocacy efforts. These effects are particularly strong among Republicans and highly nationalist individuals. These findings have broad implications for theories of international socialization, norms, and advocacy.