Mission G20: Organizing world politics

Abstract

While G20 summits receive some overall public recognition, political results are less impressive since the final declarations are merely expressions of intentions with no legal obligations. Against this background one might wonder about the very function of G20. In order to grasp the role of G20 in world politics, this article does not essentialize the G20 but concentrates on how it is organized internally and how it is organizing world politics. It does so by using Ahrne and Brunsson’s (2008, 2011, 2019) approach on organizing outside formal organizations. The article analyzes the role of G20 by differentiating five elements of organization: membership, hierarchy, rules, observation, and sanction. Analyzing the G20 along these five elements, the article explains if and to what extent the elements are reflected in the G20. Interestingly enough, the G20 shows some similarities to formal international organizations but explicitly refuses to organize itself in a formal way. The analysis is based on data gathered through participating observations during the G20 summit in Hamburg 2017 and interviews with various members in the context of G20 such as sherpas and sous-sherpas of participating countries, members of international organizations and engagement groups.