Norm Critique Proper? The Norm Critical Turn and the Turn Away from Critique

This article offers a critical reading of the concept of norm critique through narratives of its historical development and theoretical framework, especially in relation to its claimed poststructural influence. In Sweden, norm critique has grown into a well-established perspective used within several different disciplines, organizations, and governmental agencies to counteract discrimination and inequality, and has come to be associated with feminist theory and gender studies research. Inspired by Clare Hemmings analysis of Western feminist storytelling, we investigate the political implications of norm critical stories, including the impulse to defend the concept against presumed misunderstandings. Our analysis illustrates that the narrative of norm critique promotes a discourse of consensus and optimism about the possibilities for social change and, as such, a turn away from critique towards identity and affirmation. This, we argue, obscures important differences and conflicts both within feminist theory and gender studies as a field and risks de-politicizing the issues which norm critique aims to address.