This is Who We Are: The Role of Institutional Identity in International Institutions’ Legitimation

Regional and international organisations are collective actors that interact socially with other international actors and with their own constituent parts. This paper argues that, not unlike individual social actors, international institutions develop a distinct identity that further evolves with social interaction in a social environment. Having an institutional identity helps organisations to project their image internally, onto their own member states and their public opinion, which is where international organisations gain intra-institutional legitimation and support. In addition, it helps them project a clear institutional image externally, onto the international environment, within which they interact socially. The successful construction of a coherent and consistent institutional identity facilitates international institutions’ self-legitimations, necessary for functioning effectively in a complex international system. The paper analyses the process of institutional identity construction, illustrating the claims with different empirical cases.