The Political Economy of Transnational Regimes: The Case of Human Rights

Abstract

Focusing on the flow of funding to human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), we begin in this article to broach one of the least studied issues pertaining to transnational regimes-namely, their material underpinnings. Through an analysis of the patterns of donor funding to human rights NGOs, we underscore the triangulation between states, donors, and rights NGOs, whereby states have an impact on donor preferences, which, in turn, influences the agenda of human rights NGOs and their modes of operation, and these, in their turn, help shape the kind of NGO criticism voiced against the state. By emphasizing the important and frequently missing link of donors, we thus complicate the discussion concerning the impact human rights networks have on state policies and practices, showing how rights NGOs simultaneously weaken and strengthen the state. Accordingly, our examination of the political economy of human rights adds a new dimension to the literature analyzing how the state both reconfigures and is reconfigured by transnational regimes.While most scholars acknowledge the existence of a robust human rights regime within the international arena, there is an ongoing debate about whether this regime has had a significant impact on state policies and practices. In this article, we claim that one of the issues missing from the debate is the political economy of human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are the major actors within the rights regime. We argue that in order to understand the potential rights NGOs have to alter state policies and to bring about social change, as well as some of the reasons why this potential is often foiled, it is crucial to consider the economic field within which the NGOs operate. By taking into account the impact of the economic field, we hope not only to broaden the discussion concerning the ability of the human rights regime to influence state policies and practices, but also to lay bare some of the more intricate ways through which the global and the state interact.The research examining the impact of human rights norms on state policies and practices (Brysk

Corporate Funding and Sustainability of Non- Governmental Organizations in Africa

“…Government funds available were not accessed by civil society organizations due to inadequate awareness about the availability and the procedures required to access the funds. The findings are in line with the works of (Benthall, 1995;Nelson, 1997;Clark et al, 1998;Carapico, 2000;Ahmad, 2003;Paul, 2003;He and Murphy, 2007;Berkovitch and Gordon, 2008;Kim, 2009;Kim et al, 2011) Finally, NGOs development is about people, people who require institutions and information to enable their participation. There are no quick fixes, it requires time and commitment.…”

Aiding and Abetting: Human Rights INGOs and Domestic Protest

“…Moreover, the pure altruism assumption contradicts many accounts of what INGOs are actually doing on the ground (Clark et al 2006;Sundstrom 2006;Berkovitch and Gordon 2008).…”

“…On one hand, as described above, domestic protest groups are encouraged to switch their strategies from violent to nonviolent ones based on fears of disruption in funding and the new promise of support provided from HROs encouraging nonviolent tactics (Berkovitch and Gordon 2008). While this would lead us to believe that increased HRO activities would lead to an overall decrease in the use of domestic violent protest, more recent accounts of broader social movements, including the civil rights movement (Haines 2006) A more compelling explanation for the positive effects of HRO activities on violent protest, however relies on protest diffusion mechanisms (Haines 1984).…”

La Promoción De Soluciones Tecnológicas Para La Defensa De Los Derechos Humanos

“…• Y en tercer lugar, desde la imposición del ¨imperialismo moral¨ ejercido desde las organizaciones no gubernamentales, al momento de ejercer de garantes del conocimiento experto, en torno a dicha temática (Dezalay, 2003;Dezalay, & Garth, 2005;Berkovitch, & Gordon, 2008 un único actor colectivo, sino desde la co-responsabilidad asumida por el mayor número de actores sociales.…”