Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214698 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Global Cooperation Research Papers No. 5
Publisher: 
University of Duisburg-Essen, Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research (KHK/GCR21), Duisburg
Abstract: 
Transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are commonly regarded either as agents of empire or as manifestations of the progressive enlightenment of humankind. This paper takes a different view, arguing that they are best characterized as versatile factors of global cooperation across regional, ideological, and sectoral boundaries. Whilst recognizing that multilateral cooperation is sought not as an end in itself but as a means of intervening on behalf of oppressed groups who are engaged in struggles for recognition, I argue that the physical and psychological distance of many NGO activists from these struggles can distort patterns of cooperation and practices of recognition. I conclude that,far from simply being lauded as harbingers of a transnational, post-Westphalian democratic order, NGOs should be seen as the human face of the 'global rise of the unelected', with deeply paradoxical implications for the future of transnational governance.
Subjects: 
Global Governance
International NGOs
Theories of Recognition
Practices of Intervention
Ethical Witnessing
Harm Conventions
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Working Paper

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