Civil Society Participation In European And Global Governance

It is often argued that the enhanced consultation of civil society contributes to the democratization of European and global governance. This collection investigates whether this theoretical argument is supported by empirical evidence. Ten original essays analyze current patterns of civil society consultation in 32 intergovernmental organizations.

This book analyzes how international organizations and the European Union engage with civil society to pursue their policy goals. Multi-stakeholder initiatives, private-public partnership, sub-contracting, political alliances, hybrid coalitions, multi-sectoral networks, pluralist co-governance, and indeed foreign policy by proxy are all considered. Bringing together the most advanced scholarship, the book examines trade, environment, development, security, and human rights with reference to both EU and global institutional settings such as the WTO, UN Climate Summits, FAO, IFAD, ICC, UNHRC, UNSC, and at the EU level the DG FISMA, TRADE, CLIMA, DEVCO, HOME and ECHO. The book also studies the use of NGOs in the foreign policy of the EU, USA, and Russia. This changing politics and the polarized debate it has generated are explored in detail.

This book provides a critical analysis of the European Union's approach to 'governance', focusing on the way in which civil society is incorporated within the EU decision-making process and arguing that it is not conducive to the democratisation of EU governance. Using a governmentality approach, Kutay demonstrates that civic actors are not incorporated into EU decision-making processes as they are; rather, they are formed, manipulated and guided by political programming. The author explains how this acts to prescribe and construct particular types of subjectivities, thereby limiting and constraining the types of participation that might emerge as part of European civil society and the process of political participation. Governance and European Civil Society will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, global governance, civil society and democracy, Central and East European studies and political and international theory.

This book re-conceptualizes civil society engagement with global governance institutions in the field of development in terms of opposition. With an innovative theoretical framework, it maps and explains opposition strategies through detailed case studies on the EU, the Asian Development Bank, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.

The European Union is a key participant in international organisations with its involvement taking different forms, ranging from full membership to mere observer. Moreover, there is also not only one status of observer, but different ones depending on the constituent charters of the organisations. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the participation of the EU in five international organisations: the UN, the ILO, the WTO, the WHO and the WIPO. It identifies its role and influence in diverse areas of global governance, such as foreign policy, peace, human rights, social rights, trade, health and intellectual property. EU and international experts, diplomats and scholars have contributed to this book to give an overview of the different aspects linked to the participation of the EU in these organisations and to the coordination that takes place internally with its Member States. They also examine the EU's actual influence in the various areas and its contribution to global governance. The combination of these two dimensions allows the work to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the participation of the EU in these five international organisations. The book provides valuable insights for scholars, policymakers and is useful for representatives of other international organisations and civil society actors.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, international relations, civil society, sociology, European politics and global governance.

The UN is able to recognize key global challenges, but beset by difficulties in trying to resolve them. In this, it represents the current global political balance, but is also the only international institution that could move it forward. Civil society can be a catalyst for this kind of change. In this book, Nora McKeon provides a comprehensive analysis of UN engagement with civil society. The book pays particular attention to food and agriculture, which now lie at the heart of global governance issues. McKeon shows that politically meaningful space for civil society can be introduced into UN policy dialogue. The United Nations and Civil Society also makes the case that it is only by engaging with organizations which legitimately speak for the 'poor' targeted by the Millennium Development Goals that the UN can promote equitable, sustainable development and build global democracy from the ground up. This book has strong ramifications for global governance, civil society and the contemporary debate over the future of food.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the way that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) define their roles within multilateral institutions, both at the global level and, more specifically, within the European Union framework. The author argues that the use of conceptual categories such as global civil society and global governance is necessary to explain what is currently happening in the international political system in this era of globalisation.<BR> The argument is built on the premise that CSOs are significant actors for democratic change in the architecture of world politics, standing out for their capacity to aggregate a varied range of political demands, particularly in waging high-level political/legal campaigns within more closely structured networks and in autonomous forums during major United Nations conferences. On a worldwide level, CSOs are gaining recognition for their political impact, above and beyond formal consultative status.<BR> This book shows that the European Union, as a laboratory of innovative multi-level governance, offers many opportunities for CSOs participation, recognising them as an important part of the democratic process.