Politics of Legitimacy Via Deliberative Fora? The World Economic Institutions and Their Critics
Final Report Abstract
International institutions are in crisis. Criticism regarding their legitimacy and missing democratic features not only comes from states, but in particular from civil society actors. Especially the world economic organizations as symbols of neoliberal globalisation have repeatedly come into the focus of civil society criticism and protests since the 1990s. In a direct reaction several global economic institutions have introduced dialogue forums. These forums are supposed to enable civil society representatives to enter into a direct exchange with representatives of the criticized institutions. Developed on the theoretical foundation of deliberative democracy, dialogue forums aim to restore the questioned legitimacy of international organisations. Initially celebrated as the dawn of a new era in dealing with civil society criticism, these forums are now strongly criticised and accused of failure, or even as instruments of manipulation and silencing civil society. However, research has so far barely dealt with the dialogue forums of international institutions explicitly. The project "Legitimacy Policy through Dialogue Forums? Global Economic Institutions and their Critics" therefore focuses on dialogue forums and examines whether criticism related to dialogue forums is justified. To this end, the design and practice of dialogue forums of different institutions will be examined over time and in comparison. Understanding deliberation as an ideal-typical process that cannot be implemented in the real world, it was analysed in how far the design and practice of forums are conducive to deliberation. In addition, research was conducted into the reasons why dialogue forums do not fulfil the expectations placed in them and into alternative functions they fulfil. Empirical work within the project focuses on four case studies: the Civil Society Policy Forum, the joint dialogue forum of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Public Forum organized by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Engagement Groups of the G20 and the G7. Our results emphasise how these selected dialogue forums only partially approximate the ideals of deliberation in their design and practice. While the openness of dialogue forums with regard to civil society participation and topics varies over time and between cases, it is most interesting that dialogue forums are relatively detached from decision-making processes of the hosting institutions. Institutions are still aiming to curb criticism through the implementation of dialogue forums, but they are not using them to actively manipulate of silence civil society critics. In addition, as expected, dialogue forums have come to take up additional functions, they are important points of access for civil society actors, they serve networking functions and enhance civil society’s capacity to act.
Publications
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Rule and resistance in global governance. International Theory, 13(1), 122-130.
Deitelhoff, Nicole & Daase, Christopher
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“Dialogue forums as (self-) legitimation practice: How international institutions engage with their critics”, 11.12.2020, Zoom-Workshop “(Self-)Legitimation of IOs in Disruptive Times”, 09.12.2020–11.12.2020, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg und die Universität Gothenburg in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien.
Deitelhoff, Nicole; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie & Schumann, Diane
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Keeping Your Enemies Close? The Variety of Social Movements’ Reactions to International Organizations’ Opening Up. International Studies Review, 23(4), 1273-1299.
Anderl, Felix; Daphi, Priska & Deitelhoff, Nicole
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“Dialogue Forums as (Self-) Legitimation Practice: How International Institutions Engage with their Critics”, 30.06.2021, Practices of Legitimation in International Organizations - Workshop for a special issue bid, 29.06.2021–30.06.2021, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), University of Gothenburg, LegRo (Legitimation of Regional Organizations), virtuell.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Dialogue Forums as (Self-) Legitimation Practice: How International Institutions Use Social Media Channels to Interact with their Critics”, 02.09.2021, ECPR General Conference, 30.08.2021–03.09.2021, virtuell.
Schumann, Diane
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“Dialogue Forums as a Legitimation Strategy: Why do International Institutions Maintain Dialogue Forums?”, 05.10.2021, The Sources of Legitimation Strategies in International Organizations, 05.10.2021, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), University of Gothenburg, LegRo (Legitimation of Regional Organizations), virtuell.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Dialogue Forums as Self- Legitimation Practice: How International Institutions Engage with their Critics”, 07.04.2021, ISA Annual Convention 2021, 06.04.2021–09.04.2021, virtuell (USA).
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Self-Representation and Perception of the G20 Engagement Forums through the lens of their Social Media Communication - A Proposed Analysis of the Development of Different Legitimacy Constituencies”, 07.04.2021, ISA Annual Convention 2021, 06.04.2021–09.04.2021, virtuell (USA).
Schumann, Diane
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“Stuck in Semi-Publicness – How the G20 Engagement Groups Fail to Translate their Work into the Digital Public Sphere”, 12.11.2021, Publics in Global Politics, 11.11.2021–12.11.2021, Annual conference of the Working Group “Sociology in International Relations” of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in cooperation with the Section “Political Sociology” of the German Sociological Association (DGS), virtuell.
Schumann, Diane
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“The Civil Society Policy Forum: Increasing Legitimacy Through Inclusion?”, 07.04.2021, ISA Annual Convention 2021, 06.04.2021–09.04.2021, virtuell (USA).
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie
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“Dialogue Forums as a Legitimation Strategy: How International Economic Institutions Engage with their Critics”, 18.07.2022, Internationale Organisationen unter Druck, 18.07.2022- 19.07.2022, Bonn.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Dialogue forums as a reaction to contestation: How international institutions engage with their critics”, 29.04.2022, Contestation and Change in International Organizations, 28.04.2022–29.04.2022, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Informal Institutions and Formalised Civil Society Engagement. An analysis of the G7/ 8 and G20 civil society outreach processes”, 02.09.2022, 15th Pan- European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association (EISA), 01.09.2022, Panteion University, Athen (Griechenland).
Schumann, Diane
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“Informal Institutions and Formalised Civil Society Engagement. An analysis of the G7/ 8 and G20 civil society outreach processes”, 24.08.2022, ECPR General Conference, 22.08.2022–26.08.2022, Innsbruck (Österreich).
Schumann, Diane
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“International Organizations, Civil Society and the Public Sphere: The (Im-)Possibility of Virtual Dialogue”, 01.12.2022, Publics in Global Politics, 01.12.2022– 02.12.2022, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Law and International Law, Heidelberg / University of Bielefeld, online.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie
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“Legitimation Discourse in G20 Engagement Groups”, 30.03.2022, ISA Annual Conference 2022, 30.03.2022–02.04.2022, Nashville, TN (Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika).
Schumann, Diane
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“The Path of Least Resistance: Why do International Institutions Maintain Dialogue Forums?”, 05.04.2022, Legitimation Strategies of International Organizations, 05.04.2022–05.04.2022, GiGA/University of Gothenburg, virtuell.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Trust, Mistrust and Distrust and its Effects on Cooperation between Civil Society and International Economic Organizations”, 23.03.2022, 2022 PRIF Annual Conference "ConTrust: Peace Politics and Trust in Conflict", 23.03.2022, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Frankfurt.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie & Schumann, Diane
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Are international organizations really engaging with civil society? International Affairs Blog, 14 June 2023.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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The path of least resistance: why international institutions maintain dialogue forums. International Affairs, 99(3), 941-961.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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World Business Council for Sustainable Development. International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, 1-3. Springer International Publishing.
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie
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“Dialogue Forums as a Reaction to Contestation: How International Institutions Engage with Their Critics”, 15.03.2023, ISA Annual Convention 2023, 15.03.2023–18.03.2023, Montréal (Kanada).
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Deitelhoff, Nicole & Schumann, Diane
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“Informal Institutions and Formalised Civil Society Engagement - G7/ 8 And G20 Civil Society Outreach Processes”, 29.11.2023, Multilateral Co-operation for Global Resilience: Towards the Next Decade. 10th Annual Meeting of International Organisations, 29.11.2023-29.11.2023, OECD, Paris (Frankreich).
Schumann, Diane
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“Informal Institutions and Formalised Non-State Actor Engagement. Analysing the G7/ 8 and G20 Outreach Processes”, 09.01.2023, Workshop: Edited Volume on Improving Inclusiveness of IO Rule-Making, 09.01.2023-09.01.2023, OECD, Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, Partnership of International Organisations for Effective International Rulemaking, virtuell.
Schumann, Diane
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“Trust, Mistrust and Distrust and its Effects on Cooperation between Civil Society and International Economic Organizations”, 18.03.2023, ISA Annual Convention 2023, 15.03.2023-18.03.2023, Montréal (Kanada).
Coni-Zimmer, Melanie & Schumann, Diane
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Informal institutions and formalised non-state actor engagement: analysing G7 and G20 outreach processes. Inclusive Rule-Making by International Organisations, 222-242. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Schumann, Diane
