On the deliberative capacity of private multi-stakeholder governance: The Roundtables on Responsible Soy and Sustainable Palm Oil

Schouten, Greetje; Leroy, Pieter; Glasbergen, Pieter

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.08.007

Cited by 185 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Cross-sector partnerships have become common practice over the last decades (Gray and Purdy 2018) and range from formal roundtables aiming for certification processes at the global level (e.g., Schouten et al 2012), to informal coordination mechanisms to manage natural resources at the local level (e.g., Visseren-Hamakers et al 2010). While cross-sector partnerships are highly diverse in terms of design and objectives, they are characterized by collective decision-making in which a plurality of government, business, and civil society actors are involved (Gray 2007;Selsky and Parker 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

Dewulf

Elbers

2018

Administrative Sciences

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Abstract:While cross-sector partnerships are sometimes depicted as a pragmatic problem solving arrangements devoid of politics and power, they are often characterized by power dynamics. Asymmetries in power can have a range of undesirable consequences as low-power actors may be co-opted, ignored, over-ruled, or excluded by dominant parties. As of yet, there has been relatively little conceptual work on the power strategies that actors in cross-sector partnerships deploy to shape collective decisions to their own advantage. Insights from across the literatures on multiparty collaboration, cross-sector partnerships, interactive governance, collaborative governance, and network governance, are integrated into a theoretical framework for empirically analyzing power sources (resources, discursive legitimacy, authority) and power strategies (power over and power in cross-sector partnerships). Three inter-related claims are central to our argument: (1) the intersection between the issue field addressed in the partnership and an actor's institutional field shape the power sources available to an actor; (2) an actor can mobilize these power sources directly in strategies to achieve power in cross-sector partnerships; and, (3) an actor can also mobilize these power sources indirectly, through setting the rules of the game, to achieve power over partnerships. The framework analytically connects power dynamics to their broader institutional setting and allows for spelling out how sources of power are used in direct and indirect power strategies that steer the course of cross-sector partnerships. The resulting conceptual framework provides the groundwork for pursuing new lines of empirical inquiry into power dynamics in cross-sector partnerships.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

Dewulf

Elbers

2018

Administrative Sciences

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“…Their added value in fostering sustainability in global value chains is therefore to be constantly assessed and judged (Schouten & Glasbergen 2011) (Gulbrandsen & Auld 2016;Schouten 2013). While most existing sustainability standards address many key biodiversity issues , their contribution to biodiversity improvement is not yet clear.…”

Section: Additionality To International Biodiversity Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of International Cooperative Initiatives on Biodiversity (ICIBs)

Arts

Buijs²,

Gevers

et al. 2017

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“…For example, in their study of the deliberative capacity of two agricultural commodity roundtables, Schouten et al (2012) find that they include only a limited variety of pragmatic and technical discourses, whilst excluding local knowledge and ideological or emotional styles of communication. A similar criticism has been made by Cheyns (2011), who concludes that small-scale farmers and communities from the global south are often excluded from these arrangements.…”

Section: Organizing Deliberative Private Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Let’s Bargain! Setting Standards of Sustainable Biofuels

Schleifer

2016

Sustainability Politics and Limited Statehood

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The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), created in 1992 and directed by Brigid Laffan since September 2013, aims to develop inter-disciplinary and comparative research and to promote work on the major issues facing the process of integration and European society.The Centre is home to a large post-doctoral programme and hosts major research programmes and projects, and a range of working groups and ad hoc initiatives. The research agenda is organised around a set of core themes and is continuously evolving, reflecting the changing agenda of European integration and the expanding membership of the European Union. The Global Governance Programme at the EUIThe Global Governance Programme (GGP) is research turned into action. It provides a European setting to conduct research at the highest level and promote synergies between the worlds of research and policy-making, to generate ideas and identify creative and innovative solutions to global challenges.The GGP comprises three core dimensions: research, policy and training. Diverse global governance issues are investigated in research strands and projects coordinated by senior scholars, both from the EUI and from other internationally recognized top institutions. The policy dimension is developed throughout the programme, but is highlighted in the GGP High-Level Policy Seminars, which bring together policy-makers and academics at the highest level to discuss issues of current global importance.The Academy of Global Governance (AGG) is a unique executive training programme where theory and "real world" experience meet. Young executives, policy makers, diplomats, officials, private sector professionals and junior academics, have the opportunity to meet, share views and debate with leading academics, top-level officials, heads of international organisations and senior executives, on topical issues relating to governance.For more information: http://globalgovernanceprogramme.eui.eu AbstractThis paper studies the contested nature of new modes of governance two decades after the "participatory paradigm" was announced at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. With a focus on private multi-stakeholder initiatives, it conducts an in-depth analysis of business-civil society interaction in the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, a scheme created to define an internationally accepted standard for biofuel production. Through its highly inclusive and transparent design, the roundtable provides what could be called ideal institutional scope conditions for participatory governance. However, falling far short of the participatory ideal of open-minded and consensus-oriented deliberation, the analysis uncovers how stakeholder interaction in the roundtable frequently collapsed into power struggles and interest group bargaining. Inquiring into the causes of this deliberation failure, the article identifies the high level of politicization in the biofuels arena as well as the background role of the state as the main explanatory factors.

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On the deliberative capacity of private multi-stakeholder governance: The Roundtables on Responsible Soy and Sustainable Palm Oil

Cited by 185 publications

References 15 publications

Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

The Impact of International Cooperative Initiatives on Biodiversity (ICIBs)

Let’s Bargain! Setting Standards of Sustainable Biofuels

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