Claiming Knowledge – The Interorganizational Dynamics of Knowledge Production

The creation and dissemination of ostensibly objective knowledge is a key source for international organizations’ (IOs) authority construction. Yet, in many policy areas IOs are increasingly surrounded by IOs with overlapping mandates that likewise produce specialized knowledge. While IO research gradually considers interorganizational relations and the role individual bureaucrats play therein, we still know surprisingly little about the interorganizational mechanisms of IO knowledge creation. By exploring how, and under which conditions, IOs interrelate through knowledge production on common policy issues, the paper adds to current debates on interorganizational relations and knowledge creation in IOs. The paper argues that in order to justify their own body of knowledge IOs have to relate towards other IOs creating knowledge on the same policy issue, which fuels struggles over the “right” knowledge constructed and induces interaction between IOs. Two central conceptual claims underlie this argument. First, knowledge created by IOs is not as impartial as claimed. Different dimensions of knowledge production such as issue definition, construction of measurement instruments or data analysis are subject to organizational framing and thus inherently ambiguous. Second, the existence of differing sets of knowledge regarding the same policy issue prompts IOs to interconnect, pointing to a relational dimension of knowledge production. The configuration of interorganizational relations oscillates between competition and cooperation throughout the knowledge creation process, whereby members of research staff function as boundary spanners within and across IOs. Drawing on expert interviews and document analysis, a study of the ILO and UNICEF child labor policies demonstrates the interorganizational struggles over knowledge production and the key role of research staff in navigating these dynamics.