Actors and Agency in Global Social Governance

Abstract

The introduction paves the way for an actor-centred approach to global social governance. The chapter highlights the necessity to think beyond existing conceptualizations and approaches, by combining di erent analytical tools from social policy, international relations, global governance research and comparative politics research. Di erent notions of agency and governance mechanisms at the disposal of di erent groups of actors are introduced, and applied to speci c groups of actors. That includes both, individual legitimacy (e.g. institutional characteristics, constitutions, mandates), and structural contexts to global social governance. The chapter introduces the key questions running through the volume: what constitutes global social governance actors? How can global social policy actors be classi ed? What makes global social policy actors legitimate? What is the relationship between global social policy actors? By what mechanisms do global social policy actors exert in uence?

Exploring theoretical approaches to global social policy research: Learning from international relations and inter-organisational theory

“…In addition, there have been attempts to formulate general accounts of global social governance processes and procedures, significantly going beyond Deacon's early texts that addressed global social governance mainly as a necessary forum towards a more socially just world (Deacon, 2003). Kaasch and Martens (2015), for example, contributed a collection of research addressing different types of actors in global social governance; next to IOs, this highlighted the significance of other international alliances, such as the G20, BRICS, international NGOs or the media and even individuals in addressing global social issues. Therefore, comprehensive GSP analyses usually start off with a mapping of actors in order to characterise GSP generally or in a specific field (see, for example, Deacon, 2007;Fergusson and Yeates, 2014;Kaasch, 2015;Koivusalo and Ollila, 1997).…”

“…As GSP research has an original interest in social policy actors and inter-actor relationships, and competing ideas and policy discourse among different (sorts of) actors (Deacon, 2007;Kaasch and Martens, 2015), theoretical approaches that make it possible to conceptualise the characteristics of IOs and various kinds of IOR are needed. In order to explain how IOs interact with their societal environment, IR studies use approaches and insights from Organisation Studies to enhance their understanding of IOs (Ellis, 2010;Koch, 2017;Liese, 2010;Martens et al, 2015).…”

Migrant Precarity in Asia: ‘Networks of Labour Activism’ for a Rights‐based Governance of Migration

“…The literatures on global governance and global social regulation have both commented upon fragmented institutional structures and the involvement of a plethora of institutional actors with reference to a number of policy fields (Grugel and Piper, ; Kaasch and Martens, ). This can lead to a number of competing and overlapping institutions, all of which have some stake in shaping policy (Deacon, ).…”

Malaise in the Western Middle Classes

“…The governance of the social at the global level is complex (Deacon, 2007(Deacon, , 2013aKaasch and Martens, 2015;Kaasch and Stubbs, 2014). A number of competing institutions help shape global social policy, through both policy advice to countries and constructing transnational economic and social policies for redistribution, regulation and rights.…”