Conclusion

This concluding chapter presents a summary of the essential findings of the book. The central conceptual contributions of this book are the norm bridge-building concept and the Normative Agency Framework. The norm bridge-building concept makes previously invisible practices visible and may encourage research on other states outside of Europe and North America. The Normative Agency Framework provides three analytical benefits to the study of norms: The concept of norm bridge-building expands the conceptual toolbox, thereby widening the scope of normative agency. It clarifies the relationships between distinct kinds of agency and allows for a nuanced analysis of actors’ engagement with a norm over time. In turn, the central empirical contributions are threefold. First, I provide a detailed overview of cyber norm proposals to date, contextualized in the global cyber norms debate. Second, I analyze Brazil’s posture towards the global cyber norms debate. Third, I apply the Normative Agency Framework to Brazil’s engagement with cyber norms. Finally, I discuss the implications of my insights for norm research, cyber norm research, and studies of Brazilian foreign policy.