Global Governance E-Book

Timothy Sinclair

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Key Concepts
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 324

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

In today’s uncertain world, the concept of global governance has never been more relevant or widely discussed. But what does this elusive idea really mean, and why has it become so important? This pacey introduction sheds new light on the issues involved, offering readers a comprehensive account of competing conceptions of global governance, and evaluating the ways in which rival theories strive to make sense of our complex world.

In a series of short, accessible chapters, Timothy Sinclair guides readers through the key perspectives on this crucial topic. In each, he assesses a range of actors and assumptions using real world issues - from global financial crisis and climate change to the politics of gender relations - to show how questions of global governance carry quite specific implications for the everyday lives of people in different parts of the world. Supplemented by thought-provoking ‘problems to consider’, as well as annotated reading guides at the end of each section, the book equips students to make up their own minds which approach or approaches might be cogent and for what purposes. Written with verve and clarity, this compelling introduction brings problems of global governance to life ably showing why and how they are both relevant and compelling for all citizens in the 21st century.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Key Concepts series

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

The problem of global governance

Approach

Argument

Plan of this book

2 Emergence

International organization as organizing principle

Failure of international organization

New challenges

The idea of global governance

Key institutions of global governance

Key issues for global governance

Power, authority and global governance

Overall comments

3 Institutionalism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Institutionalism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

4 Transnationalism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Transnationalism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

5 Cosmopolitanism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Cosmopolitanism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

6 Hegemonism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Hegemonism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

7 Feminism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Feminism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

8 Rejectionism

Background

Purpose

Puzzles

Level of analysis and actors

Assumptions

Ontology

Implications

Applications

Differences of emphasis within Rejectionism

Strengths

Weaknesses

Likely future development

Overall comments

Scenarios

Problems to consider

Further reading

9 Conclusions

Bibliography

Index

Key Concepts series

Barbara Adam, Time

Alan Aldridge, Consumption

Alan Aldridge, The Market

Jakob Arnoldi, Risk

Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer, Disability

Darin Barney, The Network Society

Mildred Blaxter, Health 2nd edition

Harriet Bradley, Gender

Harry Brighouse, Justice

Mónica Brito Vieira and David Runciman, Representation

Steve Bruce, Fundamentalism 2nd edition

Margaret Canovan, The People

Alejandro Colás, Empire

Anthony Elliott, Concepts of the Self 2nd edition

Steve Fenton, Ethnicity 2nd edition

Katrin Flikschuh, Freedom

Michael Freeman, Human Rights

Russell Hardin, Trust

Geoffrey Ingham, Capitalism

Fred Inglis, Culture

Robert H. Jackson, Sovereignty

Jennifer Jackson Preece, Minority Rights

Gill Jones, Youth

Paul Kelly, Liberalism

Anne Mette Kjær, Governance

Ruth Lister, Poverty

Jon Mandle, Global Justice

Anthony Payne and Nicola Phillips, Development

Judith Phillips, Care

Michael Saward, Democracy

John Scott, Power

Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism 2nd edition

Stuart White, Equality

Copyright © Timothy J. Sinclair 2012

The right of Timothy J. Sinclair to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2012 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

350 Main Street

Malden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-3529-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-3530-9 (pb)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5643-4 (Multi-user ebook)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5644-1 (Single-user ebook)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

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To Uncle Jack and Nigel

Acknowledgements

In thinking about how to organize my thoughts I have found inspiration in the work of Niall Ferguson and especially Partha Dasgupta. I would like to thank Shirin Rai for her interest in this book, and Hazel Smith for her encouragement. Martin Hewson is to blame for getting me thinking about global governance in the first place. Rorden Wilkinson gave me valuable advice and some thoughtful insights at a crucial moment. Some of the ideas in this volume have been discussed with audiences at the University of Delaware, the University of Auckland, the Victoria University of Wellington and the University of York. I am most appreciative of the questions and comments provided by these audiences.

At Polity, I have been greatly aided by Dr Louise Knight, Rachel Donnelly, Emma Hutchinson and David Winters. Working with Polity has been a pleasure throughout. Thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewers for Polity, who helped me improve the manuscript.

My spouse, Nicole Lindstrom, has been a source of support and guidance throughout this project. In particular, she greatly assisted with some of the ideas in chapter 4.

John Norris (Jack) Cox (1925–2005) and his son Nigel (1951–2006), my uncle and cousin respectively, were thoughtful, resourceful, creative men. Jack, a skilled educator and civil servant, helped build the institutions of post-war New Zealand society. His son, Nigel, the writer, did what writers do, with growing confidence, to increasing acclaim. This book is dedicated to their memory.

Timothy J. SinclairStoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, 9 January 2012

1

Introduction

What is global governance and what might it be? Global governance is a challenge to the way our world has been managed since the emergence of nation-states in seventeenth-century Europe. Most of us think of states making decisions independently but global governance implies the need to make decisions collectively, given the rise of common problems like global warming and terrorism. At the most basic level then, global governance implies change in what states are and what they can do as new ways of making decisions and acting on collective problems develop. But global governance, like states, can develop in different ways. Some states are tyrannical, and allow little freedom of expression to their communities, while others allow for free speech and democracy. Global governance can develop along multilateral and democratic lines, or it too could devolve into a more dictatorial or autocratic form. This is why knowing about how people think about global governance is so important.

Global governance is a difficult idea to get away from these days. As a concept, global governance seems to capture something very important about our world in the second decade of the twenty-first century. It represents a yearning of some sort, but whether that yearning is for peace and justice, or mere maintenance of the status-quo order, is less clear. Anxiety about global uncertainty seems important (Wilkinson 2005a: 1–3). In these circumstances, most of us tend to ask about the essence of global governance. What does the concept really mean, and why is it important? This book will tackle these questions, not by telling you what I think is the correct approach to global governance, but by investigating how people think about global governance in different ways, the dimensions and implications of the views they hold, and where applicable, the more systematic thinking we might identify as theories which try to make sense of a complex world.