Constructivism and Global Governance

This volume provides a clear, comprehensive introduction to social constructivism for use in making sense of global governance. By elucidating processes of social construction—how different actors come to be authoritative rule-makers, how diverse norms and practices come to define global rules, and how the clash of ideas and identities shape global rule-making—Ba and Hoffmann provide a useful approach for those seeking to grasp (or even steer) the processes and varied arrangements of global governance.

The book:

• introduces the basics of constructivism - its intellectual lineage, modern development and objections that are raised to constructivist analysis
• demonstrates how constructivism assists in answering the key question What counts as global governance?
• examines a variety of governing arrangements and practices through a constructivist lens (domination, transnational steering, regional rule-making, and multilateral diplomacy)
• Offers a constructivist research agenda for global governance

Providing concrete illustrations throughout to highlight constructivism’s utility for explaining specific global governance phenomena this work will be essential reading for all students of international organization and global governance.

Alice D. Ba, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. She specializes in the international relations, global governance, and regionalisms of Southeast and East Asia. Her current research focuses on Southeast Asia and its relations with China and the United States in East Asia, East and Southeast Asian regionalisms, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the comparative conditions and processes of engagement.

Matthew J. Hoffmann is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Scarborough. He specializes in global governance, global environmental politics, constructivism, and complex systems. His current research focuses on the global governance of climate change and the dynamics of multilateralism.