Transnational Clientelism, Global (Resource) Governance, and the Disciplining of Dissent

Abstract

Schemes for more responsible global governance have often come with new ways of thwarting meaningful voice, participation and dissent of those they are claimed to be beneficial for. This article argues that these processes extend beyond the more often criticized disciplinary effects of civil society promotion and community participation, which, despite a rhetoric of empowerment and emancipation, also contribute to containing protest within narrow confines of technocratic management. Using the case of transnational resource governance and examples from multinational mining companies in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Africa, the article demonstrates that alongside the ‘air-conditioned’ politics of participatory development and corporate social responsibility operate the ‘veranda’ politics of transnational governance: practices of stabilizing order and containing dissent through transnational clientelist practices. These do not operate despite or outside liberal global governance but are an inherent part of it. The article contributes to understanding the manifold ways in which dissent is disciplined in global governance, pushing critical engagement with indirect technologies of government further and beyond the liberal self-image.