International Civil Society Research Articles

The Dynamics of Oil and Social Movements in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

The discovery of oil in Nigeria since 1956 has inflicted a heavy burden on the local people of the Niger River Delta who have had to contend with the consequences of oil production. The grievances of these local people have persisted for more than three decades without concrete efforts on the part of the government or oil multinationals to address them. The global triumph of capitalism and the fall of communism gave the local people an opportunity to organize social movements with similar interests to international civil society to challenge the policies of successive governments and the activities of oil multinationals in the Niger Delta. This paper addresses the factors that led to a sudden upsurge in the number of social movements in the Niger Delta and how foreign NGOs have played an important role in addressing the plight of the local people of the region.

Transparency in Extractive Revenues in Developing Countries and Economies in Transition: a Review of Emerging Best Practices

Corruption and mismanagement of the extractive revenues have recently become burning issues in the extractive industry, as prevailing levels of poverty and underdevelopment in many resource-rich countries are largely attributed to lack of transparency and accountability in revenue management. Ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of extractive revenues requires concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the extractive industry. In view of the overall significance of transparency and accountability mechanisms in combating corruption in the extractive industry, there is a discernible trend towards adoption of contractual, legal policy measures at a national level of many resource-rich developing countries and economies in transition. At the international level, the stakeholder and civil society movement of developing a soft law norm also indicates an emerging consensus on the importance of transparency in the management of extractive industries.

Democracia cosmopolita versus política internacional

O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar os pontos de tensão, as hipóteses fortes e as teses otimistas e/ou pessimistas que perpassam os vínculos entre o modelo westphaliano internacional de soberania, a democratização do sistema internacional e a sociedade civil internacional. O artigo contém quatro partes: na primeira, recupera-se a discussão clássica sobre democracia e relações internacionais; na segunda, trata-se das relações entre globalização e democracia; na terceira, as tensões entre democracia (transnacional) e as novas noções de representação; finalmente, mostram-se os pontos críticos da visão celebratória da sociedade civil internacional pregada pelas teorias cosmopolitas da democracia.

Studying civil society across the world: Exploring the Thorny issues of conceptualization and measurement

The debate about the usefulness of the civil society concept for social analysis has reached a critical stage and calls for its abandonment are mounting. To prove its relevance for policy, practice and research, better operational concepts and more rigorous empirical research on civil society are required. This article examines the possibilities and pitfalls of cross-national civil society research as a crucial area of empirical civil society studies. It explores the definition, conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of civil society through a critical examination of existing international efforts at comparative civil society analysis. A functional approach to defining civil society and a two-dimensional operational concept of civil society, according to its (1) structural and (2) cultural features, are proposed as suitable tools to study the phenomenon cross-nationally. The article also reviews the Civicus Civil Society Index as an innovative tool to assess the state of civil society and discusses the insights and challenges emerging from its current application in more than 50 countries. The paper concludes that international comparative civil society studies are both possible and necessary, but cautions that more attention needs to be paid to the development of appropriate operational concepts and measurement models.

The World Bank, INGOs, and Civil Society: Converging Agendas? The Case of Universal Basic Education in Niger

This paper explores, through a case study of the World Bank's pursuit of universal basic education, the gulf between the Bank's dialogue with international civil society elites and its treatment of grassroots civil society in its development practice. It argues that the World Bank is pursuing a conscious program to build a global elite governance system similar to Bank vice-president J. F. Rischard's concept of global issues networks, in which experts from business, government, and civil society will set globally binding social and economic policies. There is a risk of co-optation of international NGOs into this autocratic global managerial system.

Global Civil Society Across the Mediterranean: The Case of Human Rights

The concept of global civil society began to be used regularly just a decade ago. Its formulation results from the application of the civil society concept to transnational political processes. This article reviews the networks created in recent years in the field of human rights in the Mediterranean and investigates to what extent these are exponents of the emergence of an alleged global civil society. Links and exchanges between very diverse human rights advocacy groups have multiplied in recent years and transnational constituencies have been forged. But the existence of this ‘global civil society’ can hardly be identified as if it were a global player. It would be more appropriate to speak of the existence of parcels of an international (and internationalized) civil society.

Beyond the notion of security community: What role for the African regional organizations in peace and security?

African regional organizations' increasing activity in security policy is usually approached through the concept of ‘security community’, which can only partially clarify their difficult situation. A multi-level governance model is suggested as a more useful approach in a situation where economic cooperation is weak, member states' principles of governance diverge, and they themselves might be part of security problems. A security community is not a necessary condition for a regional organization to play a role in the field of security. Through new intra-regional and cross-level relationships with the international community and civil society, regional organizations can become important security actors in Africa.

Markets in virtue: the promise of ethical funds and micro‐credit

The politics of ethical correctness responds on occasion – or often as its detractors would claim – only to enlightened self‐interest. To set up an ethical fund, or to commit to a micro‐finance programme, may be a mere concession to the Zeitgeist or an indirect enhancement of self‐esteem. Nonetheless, the homage to virtue raises contemporary question and issues. The money committed to ethical funds is far from trivial. In the USA, every tenth dollar is invested in “ethical” financial instruments. They are rapidly developing in Europe. As for micro‐credit experiments, they have been shown, from Bangladesh to Bolivia, to bring widely spread benefits to all. As this article stresses, the experience of ethical funds and micro‐credit, while it does not fill the gap between past and future, nonetheless bears the promise of a future. It gives a time horizon, a view of what is to come, in which what has come to be known as international civil society participates.

Corporate accountability in South Africa: the role of community mobilizing in environmental governance

Contrasting perspectives of international companies and civil society groups have divided recent debates about corporate responsibility in developing countries. The Corporate Social Responsibility discourse has been promoted by business lobbies, emphasizing the role of international companies in voluntarily contributing towards the solution of pressing social and environmental problems through partnerships with other stakeholders. The notion of corporate accountability has become the rallying point for sustainable development, demanding stricter regulation of corporate behaviour by national governments and the enactment of an international corporate accountability convention. This article assesses the promises and pitfalls of these two competing approaches to industries in South Africa. The article argues that a multi-level approach is necessary to the impact of CSR and corporate accountability initiatives. It concludes that CSR may improve environmental management systems and reduce corporate pollution levels whereas corporate accountability approaches may provide important incentives for companies to improve their environmental performance, assist in the development of national environmental governance frameworks guiding company-community interaction, and facilitate the enforcement of national legislation pertaining to corporate responsibility. However, both approaches fail to address the underlying, globallevel structural causes of conflicts between companies and stakeholders affected by their operations. These conflicts can only be reversed by fundamental changes in the global economy.

Indian Media, the WTO and the Neoliberal Agenda

The media are an integral aspect of the society and their influence on our lives cannot be denied. Gradually, as the international media have become highly concentrated and integrated, this hold has increased manifold. The media have a unique position; not only are they hyper-commercial enterprises but they are also dispensers of information and carriers of corporate propaganda. This research paper argues that the media have exploited this unique status to support and assist the spread of global capitalism. They are the missionaries of capitalism in the 21st century. An important development in this regard has also been the formation of the World Trade Organization, a global organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The combined power of a global media and international organizations like the WTO has had wide-reaching effects on the international economy, polity and civil society. As a study of contemporary media, among other things this paper discusses the political economy of the international media and media filters that shape the news content. Finally, through a qualitative media analysis of two Indian newspapers and an emphasis on the WTO, it examines where the Indian media stand vis-a-vis such discourses of globalization, capitalism and media monopoly.

Some Reflections on Contemporary International Law and the Appeal to Universal Values: A Response to Martti Koskenniemi

Martti Koskenniemi's criticism of the 'universality' of international law, ensuing from the European tradition, initially sounds quite stimulating, although not really new. Yet, one may be inclined to think that such criticism is also rather inaccurate, inasmuch as it remains both equivocal and ambiguous. This seems particularly true at a time when general international law, as it claims in essence to be universal in scope, is under attack from those who, in the name of their assumed unique position in the world community, aim to weaken the very notion of an international legal order. Nevertheless, as this order is indeed 'cosmopolitan', in the Kantian sense of the word, it is at the same time celebrated, especially by a number of non-governmental organizations which constitute the most active component of international civil society. Martti Koskenniemi's reductive vision does not seem to take account of this important phenomenon.

A Review of Recent OAS Research on Human Trafficking in the Latin American and Caribbean Region

No review of research on human trafficking worldwide would be complete without an examination of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past few years the Latin American and Caribbean regions have witnessed increased activities by the US Government international organizations and civil society alerting governments and migrants on the continually evolving nature of human trafficking both domestically and across international boundaries. Effective policy responses to the scourge of human trafficking require reliable data based on solid empirical research. The clandestine nature of this criminal activity makes it only possible to rely on estimates primarily from the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community. As in most parts of the world before the year 2000 the problem had been overlooked and understudied in Latin America and the Caribbean. In an effort to ameliorate this problem and provide governments information that more fully addressed the scope and nature of the problem the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Inter- American Children’s Institute (IACI) both of the Organization of American States (OAS) collaborated with the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) of DePaul University to study human trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. (excerpt)

The International Monetary Fund and civil society

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently become much more interested in ‘engaging’ with civil society than it has been in the past but, at present, seems uncertain about exactly what the ...

The Zapatistas and Global Civil Society: Renegotiating the Relationship

ERLACS – European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies is an Open Access, scientific journal. It publishes peer-reviewed articles in English and Spanish. Contributions reflect substantial empirical research and/or are theoretically innovative with respect to major debates within social science research (understood in the broadest sense, including history and economics) on Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to research articles, ERLACS includes 'Explorations' (a section in which new themes are presented and new debates are stimulated), review essays, book reviews, and film reviews. Articles are published online soon after they have been accepted.Sign up for our newsletter and read our latest issue!Special Collections:Violent configurations of power in MexicoVenezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responsed to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America ERLACS – Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe es una revista científica de Acceso Abierto. Difunde artículos bajo la revisión de pares en inglés y español. Las contribuciones reflejan la investigación empírica sustancial y/o son teóricamente innovadoras con respecto a los grandes debates dentro de la investigación social (en el sentido más amplio, incluyendo la historia y la economía) en América Latina y el Caribe. Además de los artículos de investigación, ERLACS incluye 'Exploraciones' (una sección en la que se presentan los nuevos temas con el fin de estimular nuevos debates), ensayos de reseña, reseñas de libros, y críticas de cine. Los artículos se publican en línea poco después de haber sido aceptados.¡Suscríbase a nuestro boletín de noticias y lea nuestro último número!Números especiales:Venezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responsed to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America

Migrant Agricultural Workers and Processes of Social Inclusion in Rural Canada: Encuentros and Desencuentros

For 38 years, agricultural workers from the Caribbean and Mexico have spent extended periods working in Canada under a guest worker program. In this article I explore worker-community relations in the Canadian rural communities in which they live, examining the ties that have developed between non-citizen migrant agricultural workers and civil society. Although the integration of migrant workers as a social group into Canadian society is characterized by social exclusion, the nature of relationships between the migrant and permanent communities is undergoing transformations throught the development of personal ties, including the emergence of non-state actors who have become increasingly relevant in defending the rights of migrant workers before their employers, their home country government officials, and the Canadian state. The discussions presented here are relevant for debates on international migration, citizenship, civil society, and transnationalism.

International Civil Society Cooperation on Migrants' Rights: Perspectives from an NGO Network

International Civil Society Cooperation on Migrants' Rights: Perspectives from an NGO Network

Le commerce équitable et la société civile internationale :

The international trade law passes through a crisis of legitimacy following the inequitable character of its rules and the irrelevance of its principles to the peculiarities of the North-South relations. Being the legal translation of the capitalist free market economic system, these rules are to protect the mercantile and free trade values. In order to overcome this crisis the movement of fair trade has emerged and has since its origin been supported by members of the international civil society. Fair trade means taking into account the standard of living and the conditions of employment of the marginalized producers in developing countries so as to improve them. This study is an attempt to demonstrate that this movement reflects the emergence of a new model of legal regulation facing economic globalisation. It follows the objective of the creation of a global law of « the economy of solidarity ». The norms of this new order are the result of spontaneous legal practices and actions taken by the international civil society. They have their roots not in the model of the market economy but in that of the « economy of solidarity ». They are made of a set of compulsory principles (fair pricing, sustainable development, observing fundamental rules related to labour conditions), which are implemented by two legal tools instituted by fair trade organisations and producers, that is to say the international contracts of fair trade and the fair trade standards. The principles and standards of this global law are being more and more recognized by the law of the European Union and by the systems of some of its Member States. This article also discusses the conditions of the recognition of this new model by the international community.

Imperialism & International Governance: The Case of US Policy towards Africa

This article argues that capitalism requires a structure of international governance, and that this can fruitfully be interpreted by integrating elements of the imperialism perspective with international relations theory. A key issue is the study of the interface between country-level governance and that of the international system itself. Capitalism needs to adapt from a relatively simple state-centric model of international governance to one which encompasses and tries to exploit an environment peopled by regimes, non-governmental organisations, 'international civil society', and rapidly developing international law. But it seems that that this tendency is incompatible with an underlying imperative of deploying pure force in the selfish interests of the dominant powers, particularly the United States.

Le déficit démocratique de la mondialisation du droit économique et le rôle de la société civile

THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT OF GLOBALISED ECONOMIC LAW AND THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY The World Trade Organisation and the rules of the various multilateral and plurilateral agreements it administers, in particular the GATT and the agreements on GATS, TRIMS and TRIPS, are not only central to international trade, but the pivots of economic and legal globalisation. This is the more true as, due to the dispute settlement mechanism, the binding nature and enforcement of WTO-rules have been enhanced. The pervasive nature of globalisation, however, is not paralleled by an equally broad basis of legitimacy and of regulatory authority. In particular, as WTO and the UN are non-specialized global, but separate international organizations, issues of conflicts with primacy of fundamental rights may arise when WTO-rules are developed, applied and enforced, and so do issues of respecting matters of public interest in the applications of WTO-rules, such as considerations of the protection of the environment, public health and labor standards, etc. These issues just as the proper development, application and enforcement of WTO’s rules strictly speaking become the more important as globalization progresses, and they bring a no less intriguing issue to the fore, which is that WTO-Agreements have been negotiated by States, that the application and enforcement is a matter mainly for the States alone, and that, therefore, litigation and dispute settlement as well are a matter for Member States’ government. The persons, which are concerned, however, enterprises, consumers, the citizens in general and their associations, do not have formal standing in either the rule-making process or as regards enforcement of rules (and even on the domestic level, direct applicability of WTO-rules is an exception, and accepted only by some Members). Of course, WTO might look to citizens’ groups for advice as well as to companies. Citizens’groups and companies, as many of their supporters claim, could be the principal members of an « international civil society ». The power of NGOs has increased in a globalised world. It has to be recognised in WTO because national governments no longer have a monopoly of information compared to corporations and civil society. The spread of democratic government in poor countries, technological change and economic integrationglobalisation, have created fertile ground for the rise of NGOs. Globalisation itself has exacerbated a host of worries : over the environment, labour rights, human rights, consumer rights and so on. Democratisation and technological progress have revolutionised the way in which citizens can unite to express their disquiet. We try, here, to propose some answers to these questions.

Resisting the Pedagogical Domestication of Cosmopolitanism: From Nussbaum’s Concentric Circles of Humanity to Derrida’s Aporetic Ethics of Hospitality

THE TOPOS OF CULTURE IN THINKING COSMOPOLITANISM Between globalism and nationalism, the hegemonic Westernization of cultures and the — no less tyrannical— indigenization of non-Western cultures, the economic logic of globalization’s inevitability and grassroots efforts to “globalize from below,” cosmopolitanism re-emerges today as a guiding ideal for envisioning and institutionalizing an international civil society. Whereas modernist debates on cosmopolitanism were fueled by antinomies such as engagement versus estrangement, patriotism versus universalism, sentiment versus detached reason, today cosmopolitanism is endorsed as a dialectic that resolves such antinomies. This dialectic reconciliation of the local and the global in the cosmopolitan ideal has been transcribed pedagogically in Martha Nussbaum’s organic figure of the concentric circles. According to this cosmopolitan figure of growth and learning, the ethical self orients itself from smaller circles of local identifications and cultural affiliations to larger circles, to reach the outer and also broadest circle of belongingness, that of “humanity as a whole.” Considering local identifications and affiliations as a “source of richness” in cosmopolitan life rather than the departure point for a journey of uprootedness towards the cosmopolitan self, Nussbaum articulates the dialectic in a regressive rather than linear manner: “Our task as citizens of the world will be to ‘draw the circles somehow toward the center,’ making all human beings more like our fellow city dwellers, and so forth. In general, we should think of nobody as a stranger, as outside our sphere of concern and obligation.”