Review of International Political Economy, Jan 10, 2023
Existing research interprets the rise of consulting firms in intergovernmental organizations (IGO... more Existing research interprets the rise of consulting firms in intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) primarily as evidence of the global spread of managerialism. We highlight that consultants are not merely carriers of business-like world cultural norms, but also part of contentious IGO politics and governance. We unpack the consulting black box and reconstruct how consulting firms are hired and active in IGOs. Analyzing the experiences of the World Health Organization (WHO), we show how IGOs have been informally ‘opened up’ to consulting firms (and to their funders) and we investigate what the consequences of their privileged access are in practice. Consultants curate voices and input (including their own) into reform packages, promote certain contents, and engage in self-effacement practices that undermine accountability to stakeholders. The pivotal position of the consultants can have a disempowering effect on actors excluded from the consulting agreement or marginalized through consulting practices. We illustrate our general discussion by zooming in on the consultant-mediated reform of WHO’s Roll Back Malaria partnership in 2015. Our analysis is based on primary documents, key informant interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation.
The paper shows that both in environmental and in international health governance differential tr... more The paper shows that both in environmental and in international health governance differential treatment norms can be identified. Moreover, in both issue areas differential treatment norms have become more pervasive and more fine grained over time. The evolution of differential treatment norms can be linked to world political transformations across both issue areas although it has to be noted that environmental governance consolidated only in the 1970s as a distinct issue area. Nevertheless, there are also important differences between the two issue areas regarding the categories of differential treatment that can be found in each of them and regarding the degree to which the norms are explicitly stated and legally codified.
ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit normativen Aspekten, die in didaktischen und fach... more ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit normativen Aspekten, die in didaktischen und fachspezifischen Theoriedebatten mitverhandelt werden und so in der Lehre Relevanz erlangen. Es zeigt sich, dass die didaktischen Theorien unterschiedliche Antworten auf die Frage liefern, was wie und von wem vermittelt werden soll. An den Theoriedebatten in den Internationalen Beziehungen verdeutlicht sich wiederum beispielhaft, dass es aus fachspezifischer Sicht abweichende Vorstellungen von den zu vermittelnden Grundlagen geben kann. Anhand der konfligierenden Anforderungen wird aber auch der Handlungsspielraum der Lehrenden sichtbar, den sie sich vergegenwärtigen und verantwortungsvoll nutzen sollten. Aufgrund des wissenschaftlichen Pluralismus erscheint es möglich, dass der manchmal als krisenhaft empfundene gesellschaftliche Pluralismus für die Lehre produktiv genutzt werden kann.AbstractThe article deals with normative aspects that are negotiated in didactic and subject-specific theoretical debates and thus gain relevance in teaching. It turns out that the didactic theories provide divergent answers to the question of what should be taught how and by whom. Similarly, the example of theoretical debates in International Relations shows that, from a subject-specific perspective, there can often be a lack of consensus on the essentials that are to be taught. Such conflicting requirements, however, demonstrate the instructors’ scope for action, which they should realize and use responsibly. Due to academic pluralism, it seems possible that the societal pluralism, which is sometimes perceived as crisis-laden, can be used productively for teaching.
Im Begriff der "Wissensgesellschaft" spiegelt sich die Erwartungshaltung wider, dass di... more Im Begriff der "Wissensgesellschaft" spiegelt sich die Erwartungshaltung wider, dass die Wertschopfung der Wirtschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts in zunehmendem Masse im Bereich der Wissens- und Informationsproduktion erfolgen wird. Als entscheidende Grundvoraussetzung fur einen erfolgreichen Weg in diese neue Gesellschaftsordnung werden geistige Eigentumsrechte gesehen. Gleichzeitig wird bemangelt, dass gerade diese Basis der "Wissensgesellschaft" bisher nicht nur unzureichend ausgeformt sondern sogar durch moderne "Piraten" und "Raubkopierer" gefahrdet sei. Deshalb mussten geistige Eigentumsrechte ausgeweitet und der Schutz geistigen Eigentums verbessert werden. Die negativen Auswirkungen dieser Massnahmen werden dabei als notwendiges Ubel verstanden und deshalb akzeptiert. Der im dominanten Diskurs unterstellte Mangel an Alternativen ist allerdings fraglich. Schliesslich lassen sich auch gegenteilige Entwicklungen beobachten. Gerade im Bereich der Software, die als eines der Paradeprodukte der "Wissensokonomie" gilt, haben die Entwickler von Freier und Open-Source-Software mit ihren erfolgreichen Programmen, die sie unter anderem uber das Internet einem breiten Nutzerkreis frei zur Verfugung stellen, fur Aufsehen gesorgt. Entsprechend haben einige Kommentatoren dieses Phanomen bereits als Anzeichen dafur gewertet, dass die "Wissensokonomie" ohne geistige Eigentumsrechte auskomme, und das Ende dieser Rechte bevorstehe. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser paradoxen Situation unterzieht der Autor die gangigen Argumente und Diskussionen uber die prognostizierte Wissensgesellschaft einerseits und geistige Eigentumsrechte andererseits einer kritischen Analyse. Der zentrale Verdienst des Buches ist, dass die vordergrundig rein technisch-funktionalistische Argumentationsweise - gestutzt auf kritische Ansatze zur Untersuchung von soziotechnischem Wandel und der internationalen Politischen Okonomie - hinterfragt und der politische Charakter der Auseinandersetzungen in den Vordergrund gestellt wird.
Drawing on a long‐term political ethnography of sites of global health governance, the paper make... more Drawing on a long‐term political ethnography of sites of global health governance, the paper makes methodological and substantive contributions. First of all, it shows that ethnography induces researchers to experience international organizations (IOs) and global governance as spatiotemporal phenomena. This experience overlaps with the lived realities of practitioners and spotlights aspects that are otherwise easily overlooked. Both practitioners and ethnographers have to be in specific spaces at particular times. This practical challenge illustrates that there are focal times and spaces, which are linked to the cyclical and sited character of global health governance. These focal times and spaces provide an important coordination mechanism and ease the general flow of knowledge – within IOs and between IOs and their environment. However, there is also the constant danger that they develop a self‐referential life of their own and become disconnected from other processes. Similarly, not just researchers but also practitioners are struggling to develop a comprehensive understanding of IOs since they experience them only partially and in specific settings. Thus, a spatiotemporal account highlights both overlooked links and unexpected disconnections. The conclusion mentions that the current – COVID‐19‐induced – mainstreaming of digital technologies will impact the spatiotemporal dimension of global health governance.
The Failure of the Proposal for an EU Directive 'On the Patentability of Computer-Implemented... more The Failure of the Proposal for an EU Directive 'On the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions:' Some Explanations and an Assessment On July 6th, 2005, as many as 648 of the 732 members of the European Parliament (89 %) voted against the heavily contested proposal for an EU directive 'on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions.' While this impressively clear result - which received much attention throughout Europe - would itself justify a closer look at this political process, the case is even more interesting from a second point of view: it provides an example for the ongoing conflict over an important power resource in the 'information age,' namely intellectual property rights. The debate about intellectual property rights has attracted the attention of political scientists in general and students of international political economy in particular for quite some time now. This research suggests two things. Firstly, there is much at stake since the (private) ownership of knowledge and ideas is one of the central issues of the 'information society.' Secondly, while it is little surprising that there were sceptical views towards the directive, it comes as a surprise that its opponents were actually able to mobilize strong resistance against it and to get their position on the agenda of the decision makers. In most preceding cases following the signing of the TRIPs agreement within the WTO framework, it had rather been the supporters of a strong intellectual property rights regime who prevailed. The the paper analyses the power struggle over the EU directive on 'patentability of computer implemented inventions' through the lens of the arguments that were raised in the debates over the three faces of power (Polsby/Dahl, Bachrach/Baratz and Lukes). The analysis suggests conclusions both with a view to the the particular case as well as in regard to more general points. As for the case itself, it will become clear that while the rejection of the proposed directive was a huge success for the anti-"software-patent" groups, the outcome is still more ambiguous than the overwhelming parliamentary majority suggests.
Neues Wissen ist ein knappes okonomisches Gut und stellt eine wichtige okonomische Wachstumsdeter... more Neues Wissen ist ein knappes okonomisches Gut und stellt eine wichtige okonomische Wachstumsdeterminante dar. Der Schutz der geistigen Eigentumsrechte muss effi zient austariert werden. Der temporare Schutz gibt einerseits Anreize fur weiteres Forschen, weil durch ihn Monopolgewinne erzielt werden konnen. Andererseits kann die weitere wissenschaftliche Entwicklung aber auch gebremst werden, wenn grundlegende Erkenntnisse geschutzt werden. Wie ist der Schutz der geistigen Eigentumsrechte aus Sicht der Verbraucher, der Unternehmen und der Entwicklungslander zu beurteilen?
Review of International Political Economy, Jan 10, 2023
Existing research interprets the rise of consulting firms in intergovernmental organizations (IGO... more Existing research interprets the rise of consulting firms in intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) primarily as evidence of the global spread of managerialism. We highlight that consultants are not merely carriers of business-like world cultural norms, but also part of contentious IGO politics and governance. We unpack the consulting black box and reconstruct how consulting firms are hired and active in IGOs. Analyzing the experiences of the World Health Organization (WHO), we show how IGOs have been informally ‘opened up’ to consulting firms (and to their funders) and we investigate what the consequences of their privileged access are in practice. Consultants curate voices and input (including their own) into reform packages, promote certain contents, and engage in self-effacement practices that undermine accountability to stakeholders. The pivotal position of the consultants can have a disempowering effect on actors excluded from the consulting agreement or marginalized through consulting practices. We illustrate our general discussion by zooming in on the consultant-mediated reform of WHO’s Roll Back Malaria partnership in 2015. Our analysis is based on primary documents, key informant interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation.
The paper shows that both in environmental and in international health governance differential tr... more The paper shows that both in environmental and in international health governance differential treatment norms can be identified. Moreover, in both issue areas differential treatment norms have become more pervasive and more fine grained over time. The evolution of differential treatment norms can be linked to world political transformations across both issue areas although it has to be noted that environmental governance consolidated only in the 1970s as a distinct issue area. Nevertheless, there are also important differences between the two issue areas regarding the categories of differential treatment that can be found in each of them and regarding the degree to which the norms are explicitly stated and legally codified.
ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit normativen Aspekten, die in didaktischen und fach... more ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit normativen Aspekten, die in didaktischen und fachspezifischen Theoriedebatten mitverhandelt werden und so in der Lehre Relevanz erlangen. Es zeigt sich, dass die didaktischen Theorien unterschiedliche Antworten auf die Frage liefern, was wie und von wem vermittelt werden soll. An den Theoriedebatten in den Internationalen Beziehungen verdeutlicht sich wiederum beispielhaft, dass es aus fachspezifischer Sicht abweichende Vorstellungen von den zu vermittelnden Grundlagen geben kann. Anhand der konfligierenden Anforderungen wird aber auch der Handlungsspielraum der Lehrenden sichtbar, den sie sich vergegenwärtigen und verantwortungsvoll nutzen sollten. Aufgrund des wissenschaftlichen Pluralismus erscheint es möglich, dass der manchmal als krisenhaft empfundene gesellschaftliche Pluralismus für die Lehre produktiv genutzt werden kann.AbstractThe article deals with normative aspects that are negotiated in didactic and subject-specific theoretical debates and thus gain relevance in teaching. It turns out that the didactic theories provide divergent answers to the question of what should be taught how and by whom. Similarly, the example of theoretical debates in International Relations shows that, from a subject-specific perspective, there can often be a lack of consensus on the essentials that are to be taught. Such conflicting requirements, however, demonstrate the instructors’ scope for action, which they should realize and use responsibly. Due to academic pluralism, it seems possible that the societal pluralism, which is sometimes perceived as crisis-laden, can be used productively for teaching.
Im Begriff der "Wissensgesellschaft" spiegelt sich die Erwartungshaltung wider, dass di... more Im Begriff der "Wissensgesellschaft" spiegelt sich die Erwartungshaltung wider, dass die Wertschopfung der Wirtschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts in zunehmendem Masse im Bereich der Wissens- und Informationsproduktion erfolgen wird. Als entscheidende Grundvoraussetzung fur einen erfolgreichen Weg in diese neue Gesellschaftsordnung werden geistige Eigentumsrechte gesehen. Gleichzeitig wird bemangelt, dass gerade diese Basis der "Wissensgesellschaft" bisher nicht nur unzureichend ausgeformt sondern sogar durch moderne "Piraten" und "Raubkopierer" gefahrdet sei. Deshalb mussten geistige Eigentumsrechte ausgeweitet und der Schutz geistigen Eigentums verbessert werden. Die negativen Auswirkungen dieser Massnahmen werden dabei als notwendiges Ubel verstanden und deshalb akzeptiert. Der im dominanten Diskurs unterstellte Mangel an Alternativen ist allerdings fraglich. Schliesslich lassen sich auch gegenteilige Entwicklungen beobachten. Gerade im Bereich der Software, die als eines der Paradeprodukte der "Wissensokonomie" gilt, haben die Entwickler von Freier und Open-Source-Software mit ihren erfolgreichen Programmen, die sie unter anderem uber das Internet einem breiten Nutzerkreis frei zur Verfugung stellen, fur Aufsehen gesorgt. Entsprechend haben einige Kommentatoren dieses Phanomen bereits als Anzeichen dafur gewertet, dass die "Wissensokonomie" ohne geistige Eigentumsrechte auskomme, und das Ende dieser Rechte bevorstehe. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser paradoxen Situation unterzieht der Autor die gangigen Argumente und Diskussionen uber die prognostizierte Wissensgesellschaft einerseits und geistige Eigentumsrechte andererseits einer kritischen Analyse. Der zentrale Verdienst des Buches ist, dass die vordergrundig rein technisch-funktionalistische Argumentationsweise - gestutzt auf kritische Ansatze zur Untersuchung von soziotechnischem Wandel und der internationalen Politischen Okonomie - hinterfragt und der politische Charakter der Auseinandersetzungen in den Vordergrund gestellt wird.
Drawing on a long‐term political ethnography of sites of global health governance, the paper make... more Drawing on a long‐term political ethnography of sites of global health governance, the paper makes methodological and substantive contributions. First of all, it shows that ethnography induces researchers to experience international organizations (IOs) and global governance as spatiotemporal phenomena. This experience overlaps with the lived realities of practitioners and spotlights aspects that are otherwise easily overlooked. Both practitioners and ethnographers have to be in specific spaces at particular times. This practical challenge illustrates that there are focal times and spaces, which are linked to the cyclical and sited character of global health governance. These focal times and spaces provide an important coordination mechanism and ease the general flow of knowledge – within IOs and between IOs and their environment. However, there is also the constant danger that they develop a self‐referential life of their own and become disconnected from other processes. Similarly, not just researchers but also practitioners are struggling to develop a comprehensive understanding of IOs since they experience them only partially and in specific settings. Thus, a spatiotemporal account highlights both overlooked links and unexpected disconnections. The conclusion mentions that the current – COVID‐19‐induced – mainstreaming of digital technologies will impact the spatiotemporal dimension of global health governance.
The Failure of the Proposal for an EU Directive 'On the Patentability of Computer-Implemented... more The Failure of the Proposal for an EU Directive 'On the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions:' Some Explanations and an Assessment On July 6th, 2005, as many as 648 of the 732 members of the European Parliament (89 %) voted against the heavily contested proposal for an EU directive 'on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions.' While this impressively clear result - which received much attention throughout Europe - would itself justify a closer look at this political process, the case is even more interesting from a second point of view: it provides an example for the ongoing conflict over an important power resource in the 'information age,' namely intellectual property rights. The debate about intellectual property rights has attracted the attention of political scientists in general and students of international political economy in particular for quite some time now. This research suggests two things. Firstly, there is much at stake since the (private) ownership of knowledge and ideas is one of the central issues of the 'information society.' Secondly, while it is little surprising that there were sceptical views towards the directive, it comes as a surprise that its opponents were actually able to mobilize strong resistance against it and to get their position on the agenda of the decision makers. In most preceding cases following the signing of the TRIPs agreement within the WTO framework, it had rather been the supporters of a strong intellectual property rights regime who prevailed. The the paper analyses the power struggle over the EU directive on 'patentability of computer implemented inventions' through the lens of the arguments that were raised in the debates over the three faces of power (Polsby/Dahl, Bachrach/Baratz and Lukes). The analysis suggests conclusions both with a view to the the particular case as well as in regard to more general points. As for the case itself, it will become clear that while the rejection of the proposed directive was a huge success for the anti-"software-patent" groups, the outcome is still more ambiguous than the overwhelming parliamentary majority suggests.
Neues Wissen ist ein knappes okonomisches Gut und stellt eine wichtige okonomische Wachstumsdeter... more Neues Wissen ist ein knappes okonomisches Gut und stellt eine wichtige okonomische Wachstumsdeterminante dar. Der Schutz der geistigen Eigentumsrechte muss effi zient austariert werden. Der temporare Schutz gibt einerseits Anreize fur weiteres Forschen, weil durch ihn Monopolgewinne erzielt werden konnen. Andererseits kann die weitere wissenschaftliche Entwicklung aber auch gebremst werden, wenn grundlegende Erkenntnisse geschutzt werden. Wie ist der Schutz der geistigen Eigentumsrechte aus Sicht der Verbraucher, der Unternehmen und der Entwicklungslander zu beurteilen?
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