Transnational Actors in Global Governance: Patterns, Explanations, and Implications
| Published date | 01 October 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00136_1.x |
| Author | Auriane Guilbaud |
| Date | 01 October 2011 |
Reviews
Transnational Actors in Global Governance: Patterns,
Explanations, and Implications by Jonas Tallberg and
Christer Jönsson (eds). London: Palgrave Macmillan,
2010. 280 pp., £57.50 hardcover, 978 0230239050
The role of transnational actors has attracted a lot of
scholarly attention since the emergence of the debate
on transnational relations in the 1970s. The book edited
by Thomas Risse-Kappen in 1995, Bringing Transnational
Relations Back In (Cambridge University Press), was a
landmark in this regard. It emphasised the interactions
between states and transnational actors to explain the
influence of the latter on world politics. Fifteen years
later, the volume edited by Jonas Tallberg and Christer
Jönsson, reflecting new developments in international
relations, takes a different stand. It focuses on the
increasing participation of transnational actors in interna-
tional institutions, thus trying to explain ‘where, why,
and with what consequences [they] were granted a role
in global policy-making’ (p. 3). The book also aims at
bridging some theoretical and methodological gaps in a
field of research too often characterised by descriptive
single case studies.
The first three contributions map the terrain for the
discussion in the book. The editors situate the volume
among the existing literature and define the terminology
used to ‘capture’ the transnational. They then propose
three complementary theoretical approaches to explain
variations in the degree of opening of international insti-
tutions to transnational actors.
The five following chapters concentrate on case studies
that answer the first two questions raised in the introduc-
tion: where in the domains of global governance do trans-
national actors gain access to international institutions
and why? Jens Steffek exploits the results of a large quali-
tative study to discuss the different levels of participation
across policy fields. Andrea Liese focuses on the Food and
Agriculture Organization to demonstrate that it does not
fit in the often-assumed framework of a linear increase in
participation. Asa Casula Vifell relies on historical institu-
tionalism to show stagnation in the participation of envi-
ronmental NGOs at the World Trade Organization. Sara
Kalm analyses the global governance of migration and
lays out the reasons why access has been denied to trans-
national actors. Finally, Jessica Green presents a quantita-
tive study of multilateral environmental agreements over
one century and shows that the delegation of policy tasks
to transnational actors is increasing.
The next three chapters are theoretical and investigate
the consequences of this collaboration between
transnational actors and international institutions. Hans
Agné speculates about the positive effects of a global
democracy on the prevention of famines and wars. Sofia
Nässtrom explores the issue of the democratisation of
international institutions in the absence of a global
people. Jens Bartelson pleads for a reconceptualisation
of legitimacy if one wants to apply the notion to
international institutions.
This book is a crucial contribution to an important
field of research. One may regret that, even if the editors
claim an ‘inclusive’ conception of transnational actors, it
focuses mostly on NGOs. Firms are for instance largely
absent from the picture, and the difference between for-
profit and not-for profit actors is never addressed, while
it can have significant implications, especially on the
issue of legitimacy. Nevertheless, the volume has the
great merit of combining theoretical and empirical
perspectives which enable us to draw informed conclu-
sions about the relations between transnational actors
and international institutions. One greatly appreciates
the concluding remarks of the editors, who comment on
the theoretical and methodological issues, thus laying
the ground for future research.
Auriane Guilbaud
Auriane Guilbaud is a PhD candidate in international
relations at Sciences Po Paris and a 2010–11 Fox Interna-
tional Fellow at Yale University.
The South in World Politics by Chris Alden, Sally
Morphet and Marco Antonio Viera. Houndmills: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2010. 284 pp., £60.00 hardcover, 978
103933171
This work provides an interesting and comprehensive
review of the South, as a collective shared identity in
world politics. An innovative theoretical Introduction
argues the case for a constructivist view of the impor-
tance of ideas in structuring political relationships. The
creation of the concept of the South and its articulation
through the institutions of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) and the Group of 77 has sustained a collective
solidarity that has limited the ability of Northern govern-
ments to dominate the South. Three of the following
chapters provide a strong diplomatic history of the
South at the UN and the output of the NAM and G77
conferences. Another empirical chapter on the ‘New
South’ focuses primarily on the leadership exercised by
the five major countries: Malaysia, South Africa, India,
Brazil and China. Two somewhat less empirical and more
analytical chapters cover intergovernmental regional
organisations and the rise of civil society in the South, as
an influence on global policy making, a challenge to civil
society in the North and a new voice within the South.
Global Policy Volume 2 . Issue 3 . October 2011
ª2011 London School of Economics and Political Science and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Global Policy (2011) 2:3 doi: 10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00136.x
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