Transnational Actors Research Articles

Geopolitics, Infrastructure and Scale-Making in the Southern Gas Corridor

ABSTRACT Like all infrastructure, geopolitical infrastructures tell important stories about particular intentions in physical form. Cross-border fossil gas pipelines that are built to promote interests that go beyond state borders and territories are considered geopolitical infrastructures par excellence. Taking to its ethnographic focus the Southern Gas Corridor, a fossil gas transit regime and logistical mega infrastructure recently completed between the Caspian Basin and the European Union, this article examines the twin processes of the infrastructuralisation of geopolitics and the geopoliticisation of infrastructure in this region. It advocates for a meso-level recalibration of theory-building and ethnographic scope to the roles of the elites, experts, professionals, transnational activists, local stakeholders and the political materiality of the infrastructure in cross-border governance, sovereignty and statecraft by transnational infrastructural means. It argues that, in the Southern Gas Corridor, the construction of the ‘geopolitical’ as a scale was achieved not in a top-down fashion but by deliberate efforts of its human and non-human agents and actors.

Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy’s global fightback against liberal activism

What is the global social context for the insertion of kleptocratic elites into the putatively liberal international order? Drawing on cases from our work on Eurasia and Africa, we sketch a concept of ‘transnational uncivil society’, which we contrast to ‘transnational activist networks’. While the latter denotes the liberalizing practices of global civil society, the former suggests a specific series of clientelistic relations across borders, which open space for uncivil elites. This distinction animates a growing line of conflict in global politics. These kleptocrats eject liberal activists from their own territories and create new spaces to whitewash their own reputations and build their own transnational networks. To do so, they hire political consultants and reputation managers, engage in public philanthropy and forge new relationships with major global institutions. We show how these strategies of reputation-laundering are neither illicit nor marginal, but very much a product of the actors, institutions and markets generated by the liberal international order. We compare and contrast the scope and purpose of civil and uncivil society networks, we explore the increasing globalization of Eurasian and African elites as a concerted strategy to distance themselves from associations with their political oppression and kleptocracy in their home countries, and recast themselves as productive and respected cosmopolitans.

Accountability enablers? The role of transnational activism in the use of the multilateral development bank grievance mechanisms

Abstract The proliferation of concerns over the transparency, accountability, and democracy of international organizations has contributed to an increase in accountability mechanisms to hold global governors to account, by both state and non-state actors. Much of the scholarly focus on this subject has been on how levers of accountability can improve global governance for Member States and actors seeking to improve decision-making, and thus outputs. This article instead examines how individuals and communities, or neglected publics, are using accountability mechanisms designed to provide them with recourse for environmental and social harm. It probes the use of the grievance mechanisms for the multilateral development banks to examine what kinds of actors use them (e.g., international nongovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, or project-affected people [PAP]) and to what effect. To explore these questions, we analyze 500 complaints submitted to the grievance mechanisms of the World Bank Group; the Asian, African, and Inter-American Development Banks; and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The results demonstrate that claims for recourse come from a range of primarily local actors, but that PAP in developing countries will more often achieve positive outcomes from the grievance mechanism process if they receive assistance from international and national nongovernmental organizations. These findings therefore demonstrate that transnational activists can fulfill a facilitating role as “accountability enablers” and that domestic representatives are especially effective in problem-solving processes, while international representatives are especially effective in compliance processes.

Women’s Education in Colonial India: The role of women’s movement, transnational actors and the local pioneers

Women’s Education in Colonial India: The role of women’s movement, transnational actors and the local pioneers

Political Socialization of Soviet Schoolchildren as Part of Children's Public Diplomacy: International Visits

The article describes the concept of political socialization of Soviet schoolchildren based on children's public diplomacy in 1982–1986. The authors concentrated on the international visits made by Samantha Smith and Yekaterina Lychyova. The research did not involve other factors of political socialization, e.g., weekly political information, fundraising events for the starving children of Africa and Nicaragua, foreign pen-palls, etc. These international visits provided valuable practical experience of interaction between Soviet and foreign children. Children's diplomacy is a relatively new phenomenon for Russian historiography, and the authors attempted to define its theoretical and symbolic meaning. The ideology-affected political socialization transformed children's everyday life, depriving it of the freedom of choice and opportunities. The analysis of children's diplomacy with its potential opportunities and shortcomings made it possible to determine the bottlenecks of political socialization. It revealed the tension between the public and private dimensions of international politics and actualized the factor of transnational activity in the development of bilateral Soviet-American relations. The research relied on the personal experience of those children, their memories, memoirs of their contemporaries, media publications, etc. The project of children's diplomacy failed because it deviated from its original scenario. Every time the process was out of direct control of political elites, children’s psychology and behavior interfered with the plan.

Med varme bøsselesbiske hilsner

With Gay Greetings and Lesbian Solidarity: Transnational AIDS-activism and the Danish National Organization for Gays and Lesbians 1981-1994. AIDS-activism is an understudied area of Danish history, and the previous research made has only focused on the Danish government’s response to the epidemic. Using Signild Vallgårda’s theories of ‘problematization’ and ‘path dependency’, and Sidney Tarrow and Donatella della Porta’s theories of transnational activism, this article examines how The Danish National Organization for Gays and Lesbians developed AIDS-activism strategies at international conferences. By analyzing conference notes, meeting minutes, and campaign materials, this article finds that the AIDS-epidemic was mainly problematized as a discriminatory problem within the international organizations The Nordic Council for Homosexuals and the International Lesbian and Gay Association. This was caused by the organizations’ previous work with discrimination. A diffusion of AIDS-prevention strategies evolved within these international forums and while the diffusion of AIDS-prevention strategies mainly happened between European homosexual organizations, Danish AIDS-activists used American symbols to frame the AIDS-epidemic, such as the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. The use of American symbols in the Danish AIDS-activism, might have made the American influence in the Danish AIDS-activism seem bigger.

Women’s Protestant foreign mission work and settler state formation in Canada: A re-examination of the Scottish diaspora

ABSTRACT Renewed interest in empire and colonialism has transformed our understanding of transnational networks and processes of exchange, entanglement, and globalisation. However, colonial entanglement still conceals some significant players in globalising cultures. The Protestant women’s foreign missionary movement pioneered transnational activism by interweaving women’s empowerment in “foreign” and “home” environments into a single mission. Essential in developing conceptual and organisational frameworks to address “global issues,” the movement’s impact upon state formation was also profound. This case study of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1876–1914) combines global diaspora frameworks with local, regional, national, and gendered settler lenses. Close review of Scottish diaspora scholarship and a multi-scale approach to the WFMS’s engagement with social reform helps integrate siloed scholarships, revealing how local and foreign mission environments intersected and collaborated to fortify structures of Anglo-Protestant hegemony in Canada and globally.

‘On the Border, I Learned How to Advocate’: Borderlands as Political Spaces for Burmese Women’s Activism

Abstract This article explores the political space of the border through the experiences of women activists from Myanmar, for whom the borderlands in Thailand have provided refuge as well as a conducive environment for political mobilization. At the same time, the border renders refugee activists insecure and precarious. Drawing on life history interviews, our analysis expands conceptualizations of the border as a dynamic political space by illustrating its dual capacity to both facilitate and constrain the political agency of refugee women from Myanmar. In particular, the spatial and temporal fluidity and in-betweenness of the border is shown to foster both repression and resistance. Exploring the character and salience of the border as a space for activism over time, we demonstrate how the political space of the border is relational, constituted in interaction with other political spaces, such as politics and governance in Myanmar, transnational activist networks, and the politics of international aid.

Which Amazon problem? Problem-constructions and transnationalism in Brazilian presidential discourse since 1985

ABSTRACT The Amazon is a complex object of policy that comprises environmental, economic, social, and sovereignty concerns. Despite this complexity, governments are often portrayed as having a single understanding of the region as a political problem. In this article, we investigate how the Amazon has been constructed as a problem in 6240 Brazilian presidential speeches since 1985 using supervised machine learning. Conceptually, we develop a framework that accounts for how important transnational actors, such as presidents, construct objects of policy as particular problems depending on where and when they participate in politics. Empirically, we find that presidents often construct the Amazon as an environmental problem when speaking far away from the region, whereas they usually construct it as problems of economic integration or social development when speaking within in the Amazon. Furthermore, presidents increasingly mix problem-constructions to represent the Amazon as a complex and multifaceted object of policy.

Instruments of lesson-drawing: comparing the knowledge brokerage of the OECD and the World Bank

ABSTRACT This study examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, the two largest global actors in the education sector, in their capacity as knowledge brokers. For these actors, positioning themselves between research and policy and circulating their versions of evidence has become a popular governance instrument to amplify their impact at the national level. To compare the strategies and targets of the OECD and the World Bank, we analyze three publication series: the OECD’s Education Policy Outlook and Reviews of National Policies for Education and the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education reports. The results reveal significant differences between the OECD’s and the World Bank’s approaches to producing evidence and brokering knowledge. We interpret the differences against the backdrop of the idiosyncrasies of the two organizations: The World Bank sees itself as a transnational actor, and its knowledge production and brokerage are highly decontextualized transcending national experiences. By contrast, the OECD is an intergovernmental organization that views itself as a facilitator of cross-national peer exchange. Situating the findings within the broader framework of the global–national nexus, we argue that the World Bank’s approach promotes vertical policy learning, while the OECD’s approach pursues horizontal policy learning.

Advancing global and transnational approaches to the study of out-of-home childcare

This paper advances the global and transnational agency approach to the study of out-of-home childcare, specifically the institutionalization of children. Based on existing studies, we highlight gaps in the current knowledge of global and transnational actors who shape child institutionalization around the world, including who these actors are, what they do and why, as well as the implications of their activities for children and families. We argue that the rise of global and transnational actors in out-of-home childcare requires systematic scholarly analysis if we are to understand the ongoing change in the global politics, policies, and practices of care.

Performance, Protest, and Feminism in Latin America

How do activists in Latin America fight for change both online and in the streets? This piece narrates a course on Feminist Protest and Performance in Latin America that explores the limits and possibilities of feminist activism in physical and digital spaces. At this critical historical juncture, feminists across the hemisphere are organizing en masse to demand change and justice, to denounce pervasive misogyny and gender violence, and to envision and realize another world. Drawing on a long history of struggle, they are engaging in performance artivism across multiple platforms including Las Tesis piece El Violador Eres Tu (The rapist is you), under the hashtags #NiUnaMenos (#NotOneWomanLess) and #AbortoLegalYa (#LegalizeAbortionNow), and in massive physical occupations and protests like #OcupaEscola (#OccupyTheSchools). They are mobilizing to condemn femicide, to advocate access to legal abortions in public hospitals, and to introduce comprehensive sex education in public schools. Drawing on these interconnected forms of performance and protest, what Marcela Fuentes refers to as “performance constellations,” women and disidencias sexuales are fighting together for the right to live without fear, to make decisions about their own bodies, and to exist in a more just world. This class asks students to learn from Latin American feminst movements and to connect their insights to our intimate and collective experiences. Beyond the syllabus, this piece offers reflections on the philosophy of co-teaching, transnational activism across the Americas, and modes of embodiment that can happen online. We invite students and educators alike to consider what it might mean to “perform well” in a university class focused on pleasure and solidarity.

The importance of being … transnational

PurposeThe paper takes the lead from Forsgren and Yamin (2022), “The MNE as the ‘crown of creation’?: A commentary on mainstream theories of multi-national enterprises”, and accepts that the MNE can, indeed, be seen as the “crown of creation” in the world of business. The purpose of the paper is to show that this is due to advantages of multi/transnationality that must be sought outside rather than within the firm itself.Design/methodology/approachThe paper argues that the advantages of multi-nationality derive from the differences in regulatory regimes between nation-states and, specifically, from laws and regulations regarding the following: labour and social security, industrial policy, taxation and environmental regulations. Some examples are given.FindingsIt is claimed that the transnational company (TNC) has the ability to operate as a unified centre of strategic decision-making, and this gives it an advantage compared to operators it bargains with who do not possess such ability. Three such operators are discussed: labour, governments of nation-states and suppliers. In TNCs’ operations with foreign countries, a distinction is made between the spatial dimension and the regulatory regimes dimension. The interaction between these two dimensions leads to discussions on: regions within nation-states and their regulatory regimes, global value chains (GVCs) and free/investment zones (F/IZs). The conclusions draw policy implications and research agenda implications touching also on issues of TNCs as creator/destructors of social values.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper refers to other published work by the author – solo or as co-author – where the arguments are further developed, including the finding of a detailed case study. There are policy implications regarding labour and its trade unions (TUs) as well governments and their taxation and industrial policies. Details of such policies need further development.Practical implicationsThere are implications for theory development, policies and for research agendas.Social implicationsGovernments of nation-states and institutions within them – such as TUs – should try to co-ordinate rather than compete with each other in their bargaining with transnational companies. The breakaway of regions within nation-states further increases the power of TNCs.Originality/valueIn the development of theories of the TNC, this work shifts the focus from internal characteristics within the firm and its markets to external ones: to the nation-states as jurisdictional loci. The distinction between spatial and regulatory regimes dimensions in dealing with transnational activities allows a novel viewpoint on: regions, GVCs and IZs. A novel viewpoint is also given in relation to the role of TNCs in social value.

Prioritizing rehabilitation in low- and middle-income country national health systems: a qualitative thematic synthesis and development of a policy framework

BackgroundThere is a large and growing unmet need for rehabilitation – a diverse category of services that aim to improve functioning across the life course – particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Yet despite urgent calls to increase political commitment, many low- and middle-income country governments have dedicated little attention to expanding rehabilitation services. Existing policy scholarship explains how and why health issues reach the policy agenda and offers applicable evidence to advance access to physical, medical, psychosocial, and other types of rehabilitation services. Drawing from this scholarship and empirical data on rehabilitation, this paper proposes a policy framework to understand national-level prioritization of rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries.MethodsWe conducted key informant interviews with rehabilitation stakeholders in 47 countries, complemented by a purposeful review of peer-reviewed and gray literature to achieve thematic saturation. We analyzed the data abductively using a thematic synthesis methodology. Rehabilitation-specific findings were triangulated with policy theory and empirical case studies on the prioritization of other health issues to develop the framework.ResultsThe novel policy framework includes three components which shape the prioritization of rehabilitation on low- and middle-income countries’ national government’s health agendas. First, rehabilitation lacks a consistent problem definition, undermining the development of consensus-driven solutions which could advance the issue on policy agendas. Second, governance arrangements are fragmented within and across government ministries, between the government and its citizens, and across national and transnational actors engaged in rehabilitation service provision. Third, national legacies – particularly from civil conflict – and weaknesses in the existing health system influences both rehabilitation needs and implementation feasibility.ConclusionsThis framework can support stakeholders in identifying the key components impeding prioritization for rehabilitation across different national contexts. This is a crucial step for ultimately better advancing the issue on national policy agendas and improving equity in access to rehabilitation services.

Reshaping state–citizen relationships through donor‐designed targeting systems in Lesotho and Malawi

AbstractSocial and humanitarian cash transfers in sub‐Saharan Africa are increasingly used to support a wide range of vulnerable populations with long‐term support or immediate relief. Designing and implementing cash transfers typically involves a range of transnational actors and government stakeholders who continuously exert power which in turn affects state–citizen relations. The data informing this article come from 109 key informant interviews with (inter)national‐level stakeholders involved in three social cash transfers and two humanitarian cash transfers in Lesotho and Malawi. This article argues that donor‐designed targeting approaches in Lesotho and Malawi create space for new state–citizen relations, but that these are relatively shallow and reconfigured once technical capacity allows for targeting approaches that rely less on communities. It contributes to the literature on the role of transnational actors in social protection by showing that their role is significant when it comes to creating new redistributive relations, even if transnational actors are unable to convince host governments to take full fiscal responsibility for their initiatives due to differing views on who deserves what kind of support.

Second generation diaspora: pandemic, development and connection

ABSTRACT The new millennium has seen a proliferation of scholarship and research addressing the relationship between diaspora and development. Conventionally, it is assumed that the second generation in the diaspora experiences a diminishing attachment to their countries of origin. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, diasporas have been at the forefront of supporting their communities at home and abroad. In this article, we examine the contribution of the second-generation diaspora to the country of origin in South Asia to provide comparative insights across time, countries, and types of crises. We examine the transnational framework in the context of ‘diaspora’ and ‘engagement during the pandemic,’ drawing on transnational scholarship. This provides an opportunity to examine the means, motivations, and agency of diaspora members – and their descendants – in transnational activities with a clear development objective. The study offers actionable recommendations for better-leveraging diaspora contributions in times of crisis.

Wood Buffalo National Park and the politics of shame: Indigenous advocacy at UNESCO's World Heritage Committee

• Oil sands extraction and other upstream activities are having considerable effects on the environment in and around Wood Buffalo National Park, which are not being addressed by federal (Canada) or provincial (Alberta) governments to the satisfaction of regional indigenous peoples. • Legal and quasi-judicial processes at the international levels provide new and complex fields of action for Indigenous Peoples and their allies. • While such processes may not have been designed as participatory or as open to Indigenous input, they represent new spaces for emergent forms of transnational activism , increasingly visible to scholars and political actors alike. • This article adds to these bodies of ethnographic literature by attending to Mikisew Cree First Nation's (MCFN) experience in petitioning UNESCO to address their concerns, marking a more decisive move into international advocacy. • MCFN's impact was arguably somewhat blunted by the structure of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, by Canadian lobbying efforts, and by the presence of another regional Indigenous group whose goals were not congruent with those of MCFN, but MCFN's efforts may provide an effective example of usage of the politics of shame on an international scale.

Apartheid Internationalism: Canadian Activism in Defence of White Rule in Southern Africa, 1965–94

From 1965 to 1994, some Canadians participated in transnational activism aimed at supporting or excusing white minority rule in South Africa and Rhodesia. Their ideas, arguments, and interconnections contributed to “apartheid internationalism,” a form of internationalism without central organization yet forged through a common cause and specific (and sometimes covert) political networks. The Canadian fraction of the movement was internally diversified and decentralized. Yet this article shows that ties among activists were considerable. Whether taking pro-apartheid or “anti-anti-apartheid” positions, participants expressed variants of white supremacism, contextualizing and qualifying their views on racial superiority within adjacent right-wing political projects. Not entirely unlike studies of anti-apartheid activism, the examination of the defenders of apartheid demonstrates the importance of race in Canadian international history. It also shows how a range of people beyond politicians and diplomats engaged with transnational issues. Most strikingly, the analysis reveals that liberal internationalism or internationalisms associated with the political left were not the only responses to a decolonizing world. Some Canadians with conservative and authoritarian perspectives refused to accept a decline of white power or found new ways to present their support for white minority governments in southern Africa.

Migranter der blev aktivister: Prodemokratisk mobilisering blandt russiske migranter i Danmark og Norge

Abstract: Migrants turned activists: Pro-democratic mobilisation amongst Russian migrants in Denmark and NorwayThis article explores how emotions and group solidarity influence collective action. Through case study of Russian migrants’ engagement in pro-democratic transnational activism in Denmark and Norway, this article contributes to our understanding of emotions and their role in mobilising and demobilising collective action. The study is based on ethnographic research material consisting of semi-structured individual interviews with Russian activists in Norway (4) and Denmark (7). The analysis show that the role of emotions is two-fold. On the one hand, mobilising emotions, moral shock, and in-group interactions can increase group solidarities and recurring participation. The findings suggest that participation in transnational activism can be considered a strategy that helps the activists cope with sudden and traumatic political developments in their homeland. Interestingly, the study suggests that even emotions usually considered demobilising, such as fear, have the potential to strengthen group solidarity and thereby act as a mobilising factor. On the other hand, demobilising emotions and threats can weaken in-group dynamics and lead to demobilisation.

Prospering the ASEAN Community: How Micro-Region Becomes a Driving Force Prosperity in Indonesia’s Border Area?

Providing space for sub-state actors’ actions at the micro-regional level is a significant trend in advancing regional integration in ASEAN. Transnational activities have contributed to the trade development and optimization of each country’s local production, a strategic goal, and micro-regions have emerged as critical players in this activity. Regional integration will be localized if sub-state actors play a significant role and engage in smaller regionalism activities, such as in border areas. With the goal of encouraging prosperity and reducing development gaps, especially for people in border areas, this research examined the collaboration of sub-state actors across ASEAN countries as an alternative development paradigm. Alternative research hypotheses applicable in various scientific disciplines were included in this research through a qualitative analysis method and a reflective case study approach. This research focused on the roles and activities of sub-state actors in border areas such as the Riau Islands with Malaysia and Singapore, who could work hard together with other sub-state actor entities through the support of a strong leadership network to take quicker and more efficient actions to overcome various issues. This research strengthens the existing literature by discovering that the collaboration of sub-state actors between countries in the border region has played a big role in encouraging the border community to advance and compete in the international arena, and ASEAN has become an institution encouraging and guaranteeing equal development for people in the border areas.