Get your Act(ors) Together! Theorizing Agency in Global Governance

Hofferberth, Matthias

doi:10.1093/isr/viy018

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Rather, MNCs have acquired agency in world politics, that is, the ‘authority and capacity to govern people and issue areas’ (Stripple and Pattberg, 2010, p. 142). As noted by Hofferberth (2017, 2019), global governance research has so far focused on the structural effects of corporate agency, largely ignoring the actors themselves. As a consequence, ‘we only have a limited understanding of what constitutes [MNCs] and their agency in the first place and how they sustain their agency in light of changing expectations’ (Hofferberth, 2017, p. 140).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: Corporate Role Conception As An Elemementioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate Role Conceptions in Global Forest Governance

Weber

2020

Global Policy

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Multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly seen as key actors in global governance. This article introduces the concept of corporate role conceptions as a new and interdisciplinary approach for analysing the self‐conception of MNCs. To illustrate its analytical strength, the concept is used to explore how MNCs operating in major forest‐risk supply chains, that is, cattle, palm oil, pulp, soy and timber, conceive themselves and their function in global forest governance. The empirical analysis shows that their self‐conception is both complex and multifaceted as they seek to perform several functions at the same time: corporate decision‐makers consider it appropriate for their corporation to be a pioneer, a role model, a supporter and co‐creator, a dedicated worker, a force for prosperity, a good global citizen and a good steward. However, these corporate role conceptions are overlapping and partly incompatible, which leads to role conflict. I argue that this role conflict constrains corporate agency in global forest governance and therefore diminishes the potential of MNCs to promote positive change.

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Section: Theoretical Framework: Corporate Role Conception As An Elemementioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate Role Conceptions in Global Forest Governance

Weber

2020

Global Policy

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“…12 Relationalism allows us to theoretically consider potential agency in global governance, to reconstruct the processes that shape the emergence and diffusion of agency, to theorise these processes in terms of implications for governance, and to assess them in normative terms. 13 As global governors interact via formal and informal governance activities (such as competition, cooperation and delegation), different actors become global governors at different stages of the governance cycle.…”

Section: A Relational Perspective Of Global Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…22 Given the complex and interconnected global setting, a relational perspective enables us to empirically investigate how and why new actors emerge, to reject a priori assumptions on the substance of agency and to understand how entities become recognised in specific contexts. 23 Relevant to the focus of this article on G20-Africa relations, Africa's engagement as an actor in the G20 process is 'something to be explained rather than to be assumed'. 24 Thus the exercise of Africa's collective agency and its potential to become an effective global governor has to be viewed as an 'essentially contingent phenomenon', drawing on 'historically specific combinations, configurations and situational enactments'.…”

Section: A Relational Perspective Of Global Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Africa and the G20: A relational view of African agency in global governance

Mabera

2019

South African Journal of International Affairs

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An analysis of the Group of 20 (G20) agenda with reference to Africa reveals that the region has received mixed attention across presidencies, underpinned by broad partnership initiatives such as the G20 Africa Partnership (Hamburg Summit). Calling for enhanced and concretised African engagement in G20 processes, this article analyses the potential collective agency of Africa in the G20 shaped by interactions with a range of actors, processes and the specific political and historical contexts that have framed its role and identity in relationship with the G20. Through a relational view of global governance, two case studies provide valuable insights into nascent understandings of the disposition and emergence of African agency in the G20, namely the Africa Global Partnership Platform (AGPP) and the Think 20 Africa Standing Group.

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“… Zürn 2017, 279; 2018. 19 Corry and Stoker 2017;Hofferberth 2018; UN 2018.20 Stroup and Wong 2017 21 Moore and Rutzen 2011;Rutzen 2015.. …”

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confidence: 99%

Who Does Greenpeace India Represent?

Thrandardottir

Mitra²

2019

Global Governance

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The global governance literature is increasingly concerned with questions regarding the purpose of global governance and the sources of power in world politics. One strand of this debate centers on nongovernmental organizations and to what extent their role in global politics and policy processes is legitimate. This article uses Greenpeace India as an instructive case study to analyze the legitimacy problems facing international nongovernmental organizations (INGO s) campaigning on a global policy platform in the context of domestic politics. The article argues that the undertheorization of INGO s’ agency as global actors is likely to reproduce processes of structural delegitimation that maintain a discrepancy between two of their legitimacy constructs. This is exemplified in questions about their representativeness and restrictive regulatory frameworks that undermine their legality. This article proposes that developing a more nuanced empirical understanding of the endogenous and exogenous limits of INGO s’ power can help bridge the theoretical gap between their global and local agencies.

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Get your Act(ors) Together! Theorizing Agency in Global Governance

Cited by 23 publications

References 52 publications

Corporate Role Conceptions in Global Forest Governance

Corporate Role Conceptions in Global Forest Governance

Africa and the G20: A relational view of African agency in global governance

Who Does Greenpeace India Represent?

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