Teacher: Fredrik Söderbaum

Most theories and analytical frameworks assume that regional and global governance institutions are designed to promote international cooperation and to achieve various types and public or common goods, such as peace or a functioning trading system. Even if many mainstream theories try to account for the gap between stated goals and achievements in many governance frameworks and international/regional organizations, too little attention has been given to the fact that these institutions are sometimes deliberately designed to fail or to achieve the self-interest of ruling elites instead of the public good. This lecture discusses the fact that some governance institutions are "dead", whereas others may be better understood as "zombies". The lecture also covers other unexpected or dysfunctional forms of governance, such as bullshit governance and regime-boosting. It is also discussed why regional governance mechanisms seems to be easier to manipulate compared to global governance institutions.

Powerpoint from lecture here

Readings:

Start to read Debre and Söderbaum, which may be somewhat easier. Then read Gray and Stevenson.

Maria J. Debre (2021) The dark side of regionalism: how regional organizations help authoritarian regimes to boost survival, Democratization, 28:2, 394-413, https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1823970

Fredrik Söderbaum (2016) Rethinking Regionalism. Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 5 (pp. 79-97), Chapter 7-9 (119-159) (less extensive; much is repetition).

Julia Gray (2018) Life, Death, or Zombie? The Vitality of International Organizations, International Studies Quarterly, Volume 62, Issue 1, March 2018, Pages 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqx086

Hayley Stevenson (2021) Reforming global climate governance in an age of bullshit, Globalizations, 18:1, 86-102, DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2020.1774315