21st Century International Organizations: Power, Politics, and Global Policy Making

This Section addresses various aspects of the design, dynamics and impact of international organizations (IOs) in the political and societal landscape of the early 21st century. The Section’s panels raise questions about if, how and why state power, bureaucratic politics, stakeholder groups, among other things, influence IO policy making and crisis management at global and regional level. Papers encompass a diverse set of IOs – global and regional IOs, formal and informal IOs, traditional IOs and new multi-stakeholder partnerships – in a variety of policy domains. With the field of IO studies diversifying, the Section explicitly encourages theoretical, conceptual, methodological and empirical conversations within and between different (sub-)disciplines interested in IOs, from International Relations and International Public Administration to Global History, International Political Economy, Organizational Sociology, or Global Public Policy. Panel 1: The Contestation of International Organizations Co-chairs: Auriane Guilbaud (University Paris 8) & Tim Heinkelmann-Wild (LMU Munich) International organizations face a myriad of challenges – their rules are disobeyed, their mandates are questioned, their budgets are cut, and their members withdraw. We conceive of contestation as the expression of disapproval that challenges an institution, a norm, or a practice, that might stem from various actors, including governments, social movements, civil society actors, and their own staff. This panel welcomes papers from different theoretical and methodological perspectives in order to better understand the forms and modalities of IO contestation as well as its scope and effects, for instance how IOs cope with and respond to these challenges. Panel 2: International Organizations through a Discursive Lens: Challenges, Contributions and Emerging Issues Co-chairs: Audrey Alejandro (London School of Economics) & Marion Laurence (Royal Military College of Canada) In addition to being actors in their own right, international organizations are discursive sites where meanings are negotiated in interaction, and interfaces through which representations circulate across the world. They normalize and legitimize competing discourses, which represent and benefit different types of actors. Scholars studying IOs have increasingly used the lens of discourse to examine these dynamics, but analytical frameworks to study discourse in relation to institutions have mainly been developed based on national contexts. This panel will explore how engagement with discourse contributes to the study of IOs, and whether such endeavours require specific ‘international’ adaptation. Panel 3: Knowledge in International Organizations Co-Chairs: Mirko Heinzel and Andrea Liese (both University Potsdam) International organizations focus on complex and uncertain governance problems, like fighting climate change, poverty or global pandemics. One central task they are supposed to fulfil is to produce and disseminate specialised knowledge to address these global changes. This panel explores questions around knowledge and expertise of IOs. What influences knowledge construction inside IOs? How, and under which conditions, can IOs influence global and national policy through their expertise? We invite contributions from different theoretical perspectives and using any methodological strategies that revolve around the use of knowledge in IOs as well as the use of IO knowledge. Panel 4 : Making IOs 'likable'? Digital diplomacy, social media & (de)legitimation Co-chairs: Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt (Leipzig University) & Matthias Hofferberth (University of Texas) Why, how and to what effect do international organizations communicate on social media? While recent research suggests that social media is increasingly picked up as a potentially powerful tool for outreach and ‘public diplomacy’, we still know little about how IO communication fares on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and alike. While IOs actively share their stories through social media, it also invites the audience to "self-curate" content by liking, sharing and commenting. Thus, other users have substantial power to enhance or curtail the reach of IO messages as well as to develop and appropriate their meaning. Panel 5: International bureaucracies’ influence on public policy and international organizations Co-chairs: Jörn Ege (DUV Speyer) & Michael W. Bauer (European University Institute) Previous research has successfully identified different administrative, political and context-related factors that enable international bureaucracies to wield influence on policy-making. What is largely missing, however, are integrative approaches that allow for a comparative analysis of several explanatory factors under a common theoretical framework. The panel aims to contribute to the current debate about the influence of international bureaucracies. It invites conceptual and empirical papers that may come from a variety of disciplines. Panel 6: Ad hoc coalitions and international organizations: partners or competitors in global policy making? Co-chairs: Karlsrud, John (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) & Reykers, Yf (Maastricht University) Most international organizations are created with the aim of solving collective action problems when a crisis arises. Yet, member states have repeatedly established ad hoc responses in situations where IOs might be expected to play a central role. This panel asks how ad hoc coalitions affect the legitimacy of established IOs such as the African Union, European Union, United Nations or World Health Organization. In this way, it aims to contribute to debates about the relation between informal and formal global governance and the legitimacy of IOs. Panel 7: Filling the Gap: International Organizations as Organizations Chair : Fanny Badache (University of Lausanne) International organizations are not operating in a vacuum but in a complex environment composed of multiple and diverse actors such as member states, civil society organizations and other international institutions. At the theoretical level, several scholars have recognized the added-value of organizational theory to make sense of these complex dynamics between IOs and their environment and within IOs. Yet empirical research using these theoretical approaches remains scarce. To fill this gap, this panel aims to delve into issues pertaining to IOs from an organizational perspective. Panel 8: International Organizations and Crises Chair: Steffen Eckhard (University Konstanz) Crises are the “new normal” in international organizations: IOs are instrumental in addressing crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or migration movements; but IOs are also in crisis, challenged by anti-multilateral sentiment, member-state withdrawals, or challenges from rising powers. This panel brings together research on the causes and consequences of this situation and the nature of IO responses.