Non-State Actors and Authority in the Global System (Routledge Warwick Studies in Globalisation, 1)

320 Pages·1999·1.32 MB·English

by  Andreas Bieler

Non-State Actors
and Authority in the
Global System

Traditionally in International Relations, power and authority were considered
to rest with states. But recently, in the light of changes associated with
globalisation, this assumption has come under scrutiny both empirically and
theoretically. This book analyses the continuing but changing role of states in
the international arena and their relationships with a wide range of non-state
actors, which possess increasingly salient capabilities to structure global politics
and economies.
This book identifies two principal types of non-state actors. First, there are
private sector corporate actors, which can be further divided into transnational
corporations and multinational corporations. Second, there are non-governmental
organisations—either societally-sponsored or state-sponsored—which play an
increasingly important role at the global level. The degree of importance attached
to non-state actors depends to a great extent upon one’s definition of globalisation.
This book offers four different definitions: the global neo-liberal discourse, the
hegemony of American values, a confluence of economic phenomena along the
lines of liberal interdependence, and globalisation as one historical epoch of many.
Each of the chapters concentrates on empirical case studies and therefore highlights
the usefulness of the definitions.
While a range of non-state actors have acquired authority at the international
level, understanding the state in all its sophistication and complexity remains a
crucial question in contemporary political economy. The individual contributions
in this volume offer ways of understanding the nature of relationships between
states and non-state actors—sometimes conflicting but often symbiotic—in an
evolving economic order.
Richard A.Higgott is Professor and Director of the ESRC Centre for the Study
of Globalisation and Regionalisation, University of Warwick, and is the editor
of the Pacific Review. Geoffrey R.D.Underhill is Professor of International
Governance at the University of Amsterdam; his most recent books include
Industrial Crisis and the Open Economy, and The New World Order in
International Finance. Andreas Bieler is College Lecturer and Director of Studies
in Social and Political Sciences at Selwyn and Newnham College, University of
Cambridge.
Routledge/Warwick Studies in Globalisation
Edited by Richard Higgott and published in association with the Centre for
the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation, University of Warwick.
What is globalisation and does it matter? How can we measure it? What are its
policy implications? The Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
at the University of Warwick is an international site for the study of key questions
such as these in the theory and practice of globalisation and regionalisation. Its
agenda is avowedly interdisciplinarian. The work of the Centre will be showcased
in this new series.
This series comprises two strands:
Routledge/Warwick Studies in Globalisation is a forum for innovative new research
intended for a high-level specialist readership, and the titles will be available in
hardback only. Titles include:
1. Non-state Actors and Authority in the Global System
Edited by Richard A.Higgott, Geoffrey R.D.Underhill and Andreas Bieler
Warwick Studies in Globalisation addresses the needs of students and teachers,
and the titles will be published in hardback and paperback. Titles include:
1. Globalisation and the Asia-Pacific
Contested territories
Edited by Kris Olds, Peter Dicken, Philip F.Kelly, Lily Kong and
Henry Wai-chung Yeung
Non-State Actors
and Authority in the
Global System
Edited by Richard A.Higgott,
Geoffrey R.D.Underhill and
Andreas Bieler

London and New York
First published 2000
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
© 2000 Richard A.Higgott, Geoffrey R.D.Underhill and Andreas Bieler
for selection and editorial material; individual chapters, the contributors.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Non-state actors and authority in the global system/edited by
Richard A.Higgott, Geoffrey R.D.Underhill and Andreas Bieler.
320 pp. 15.6×23.4 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. International economic relations. 2. International economic
integration. 3. International business enterprises. 4. Non-governmental
organizations.
I. Higgott, Richard A. II. Underhill, Geoffrey R.D. III. Bieler,
Andreas.
HF 1359.N662 1999
337–dc21 99–34775
CIP
ISBN 0-203-16504-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-25942-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-22085-8 (Print Edition)
Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
List of acronyms x
Contributors xiv
Preface xvi
Introduction: globalisation and non-state actors 1
RICHARD A.HIGGOTT, GEOFFREY R.D.UNDERHILL AND ANDREAS BIELER
PART I
Theoretical considerations:
the changing nature of authority relations 13
1 Who does what?
Collective action and the changing nature of authority 15
ANN M.FLORINI
2 Grassroots empowerment:
states, non-state actors and global policy formulation 32
KENDALL W.STILES
PART II
Multinational companies and
the establishment of international rules 49
3 Globalisation and policy convergence:
the case of direct investment rules 51
ANDREW WALTER
v
vi Contents
4 State authority and investment security:
non-state actors and the negotiation of the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment at the OECD 74
ELIZABETH SMYTHE
5 Structures, agents and institutions:
private corporate power and the globalisation
of intellectual property rights 91
SUSAN K.SELL
6 Business strategy and evolving rules
in the Single European Market 107
DUNCAN MATTHEWS AND JOHN F.PICKERING
7 Private sector international regimes 121
VIRGINIA HAUFLER
8 Corporate political action in the global polity:
national and transnational strategies in the
climate change negotiations 138
DAVID L.LEVY AND DANIEL EGAN
PART III
Multinational companies and the
international restructuring of production 155
9 Alliance capitalism as industrial order:
exploring new forms of interfirm competition
in the globalising economy 157
BRIAN PORTNOY
10 How global is Ford Motor Company’s global strategy? 174
MARIA ISABEL STUDER NOGUEZ
11 Foreign capital, host-country-firm mandates
and the terms of globalisation 193
JOCHEN LORENTZEN
Contents vii
PART IV
Globalisation and inter-governmental and
non-governmental organisations 209
12 Private authority, scholarly legitimacy and
political credibility: think tanks and informal diplomacy 211
DIANE STONE
13 International trade rules and states:
enhanced authority for the WTO? 226
GILBERT GAGNÉ
14 The World Bank, the World Trade Organisation
and the environmental social movement 241
MARC WILLIAMS
15 ‘In the foothills’: relations between the IMF and civil society 256
JAN AART SCHOLTE
16 Transnational environmental groups, media, science and
public sentiment(s) in domestic policy-making on climate change 274
SUSANNE JAKOBSEN
Index 290
Figures

10.1 Ford production by region, 1979–93 177
10.2 Ford production-to-sales ratio by region, 1974–93 177
10.3 Ford intercompany-sales-to-total-sales ratio, 1977–93 178
10.4 Ford production-to-sales ratio in North America, 1974–93 179
10.5 Ford sales by region, 1979–93 182
10.6 Ford net income by region, 1975–93 183
10.7 International collaborative projects—Ford Motor Company 185
11.1 Framework of mandate types 199
11.2 FDI and the division of sectors 204
viii
Tables
2.1 The civil society empowerment model 33
2.2 Players in the civil society empowerment model 35
3.1 Changes in inward investment regimes, all countries, 1991–6 58
3.2 Restrictiveness of investment policy regimes for US investors:
top fifteen low- and middle-income recipients of US FDI, 1991–5 60
3.3 US bilateral investment treaties 62
3.4 Total FDI inflows by principal host country, 1990–6 64
3.5 Sales by US MNC affiliates by selected country/region
of affiliate, 1994 ($MM) 67
9.1 Making sense of governance 160
11.1 Subsidiary typologies of three case studies 201
ix