Contending Perspectives On Global Governance

Global governance is fast becoming a ubiquitous phrase, succeeding globalization as the latest buzz term. But exactly what does it mean? For many scholars and policymakers the term captures important aspects of world politics. This unique volume delivers and compares the key perspectives of the leading thinkers in the area, equipping the reader with an excellent understanding of the debate now defining and mapping the future of this term. This comparative approach is underpinned by a lucid theoretical framework which guides the reader towards building a clear sense of the debate and its complexities. A wide range of empirical issues are covered, including those of Security, International Political Economy, Environment, Human Rights, Social Movements and Regulation. Including theorists of social constructivism, liberal imperialism and realism, this is an essential book for students and scholars which stimulates discussion and presents a fully rounded picture of global governance.

The global response to climate change has reached a critical juncture. Since the 1992 signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the nations of the world have attempted to address climate change through large-scale multilateral treaty-making. These efforts have been heroic, but disappointing. As evidence for the quickening pace of climate change mounts, the treaty-making process has sputtered, and many are now skeptical about the prospect of an effective global response. Yet global treaty-making is not the only way that climate change can be addressed or, indeed, is being addressed. In the last decade myriad initiatives have emerged across the globe independently from, or only loosely connected to, the "official" UN-sponsored negotiations and treaties. In the face of stalemate in the formal negotiations, the world is experimenting with alternate means of responding to climate change. Climate Governance at the Crossroads chronicles these innovations--how cities, provinces and states, citizen groups, and corporations around the globe are addressing the causes and symptoms of global warming. The center of gravity in the global response to climate change is shifting from the multilateral treaty-making process to the diverse activities found beyond the negotiating halls. These innovations are pushing the envelope of climate action and demonstrating what is possible, and they provide hope that the world will respond effectively to the climate crisis. In introducing climate governance "experiments" and examining the development and functioning of this new world of climate policy-making, this book provides an exciting new perspective on the politics of climate change and the means to understand and influence how the global response to climate change will unfold in the coming years.

In recent years, the role of global institutions such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has never been more important to the lives of individuals throughout the world. This edited book provides critical perspectives on the role of these institutions and how they use their policies, procedures and practices to manage global political, socio-economic, legal and environmental affairs. In contrast to previously published books on this subject, Global Governance is organized thematically rather than by institution. Each chapter examines core issues such as labour, finance, the environment, health, culture, gender, civil society, poverty and development. It should be essential reading for undergraduate students of international politics, international political economy and international economics.

The first in-depth analysis of how global governance impacts on the lives of ordinary people. This new volume includes four detailed case studies on labour, migration, children and development that explore the actual nature of governance policies in the GPE. Jean Grugel and Nicola Piper clearly show how global governance, the creation of global norms and regimes to regulate polities, economic and social actors, suggests and promotes ideals such as stable politics, democracy, human rights and individualism, with a strategy to create a more ordered and ultimately better world. They move away from the traditional focus on élites, states and global institutions to explore and analyze how liberal global governance is really affecting ordinary people and how this is often an obstacle to development, citizenship, voice and inclusion. Paying particular attention to the global South, Asia and Latin America, these expert authors trace the development of liberal global governance. They also clearly examine and study how this regulation has spread from areas such as trade and investment, to development, labour, migration, children and the environment.

The contributors highlight alternative imaginaries and social forces harnessing new organizational and political forms to counter and displace dominant strategies of rule. They suggest that to address intensifying economic, ecological and ethical crises far more effective, legitimate and far-sighted forms of global governance are required.

Global Governance from Regional Perspectives argues that the academic debate on global governance has neglected the combination of power with value constellations/culture. Both input and output legitimacy, for instance, or the exercise of control and influence are inextricably related to culture, worldviews, and values. The book questions theoretically the Western hegemonic and hence 'invisible' definition of governance and related concepts, as well as the Western hegemony over global governance institutions. It looks from the ground up whether, and how, alternative practices, institutions/networks, and concepts/norms of global governance are emerging in relation to emerging powers and regional integration systems. Global Governance from Regional Perspectives starts with a critical reading of global governance from multi-disciplinary views and engages with two important and under-studied aspects, notably how global governance can be measured and what lies behind such measurements, and questions the democratic deficit of global governance. The book provides a series of regional and country perspectives on global governance which engage with a specific example of an institution, process, or issue that is used to highlight why and how the western hegemonic views and practices of global governance are (or not) contested. The book offers a mapping of global governance phenomena in different regions of the world and a critical readings of those. As such this volume is different from all international relations or political science collections on global governance and also opens up a new field of study that has been hitherto neglected in sociological or cultural studies.