Activists beyond borders
Keck, M. & Sikkink, K. (1998). Cornell University Press.
The authors focused on networks in order to conceive transformative and mobilizing actions to the international political system and named networks of activists formed on the basis of common values and discourse--notably human rights, women right, and enviromental issues--'transnational advocacy networks'. The core of the relations among actors in the network is information exchange. The quickness and accuracy of generaing information and the effectiveness of the deployment are the most important factor for the network. The network works such that boundaries between domestic social/political struggles and those at the international level are blurred through colletive pressure applied at a domestic level. This mechanism is called boomerang effect, "which curves around local state indifference and repression to put foreign pressure on local policy elites"(p.200). In other words, when state repression is too strong, domestic groups seek international network pressure on their government in order to make a change. One strategy of bringing about this effect is to uncover problems to alert policymakers, which is often described as the 'human righrs methodology' or 'promoting change by reporting facts' (p.19). Effective information exchange plays a crucial role in doing so.
From the prespective of social movement theory, activists within advocacy networks are 'political entrepreneurs' who mobilize resources and suggest a politial opportunity (p.31).
The authors present their perspective on globalization in response to, Sidney Tarrow called, 'strong globalization thesis', where the world is inevitably forced to global process due to its structure: "the globalization process we observe is not an inevitable treamroller but a specific set of interactions among purposeful individuals. Although in the aggregate these interactions may seem earthshaking, they can also be dissected and mapped in a way that reveals great indeterminacy a most points of the process. There is nothing inevitable about the story: it is the composite of thousands of decisions which could have been decided otherwise" (p.213).
* [STAT] Union of International Associations, Yearbook of International Organizations show a historical change of international nongovernmental social change organizations.
The authors focused on networks in order to conceive transformative and mobilizing actions to the international political system and named networks of activists formed on the basis of common values and discourse--notably human rights, women right, and enviromental issues--'transnational advocacy networks'. The core of the relations among actors in the network is information exchange. The quickness and accuracy of generaing information and the effectiveness of the deployment are the most important factor for the network. The network works such that boundaries between domestic social/political struggles and those at the international level are blurred through colletive pressure applied at a domestic level. This mechanism is called boomerang effect, "which curves around local state indifference and repression to put foreign pressure on local policy elites"(p.200). In other words, when state repression is too strong, domestic groups seek international network pressure on their government in order to make a change. One strategy of bringing about this effect is to uncover problems to alert policymakers, which is often described as the 'human righrs methodology' or 'promoting change by reporting facts' (p.19). Effective information exchange plays a crucial role in doing so.
From the prespective of social movement theory, activists within advocacy networks are 'political entrepreneurs' who mobilize resources and suggest a politial opportunity (p.31).
The authors present their perspective on globalization in response to, Sidney Tarrow called, 'strong globalization thesis', where the world is inevitably forced to global process due to its structure: "the globalization process we observe is not an inevitable treamroller but a specific set of interactions among purposeful individuals. Although in the aggregate these interactions may seem earthshaking, they can also be dissected and mapped in a way that reveals great indeterminacy a most points of the process. There is nothing inevitable about the story: it is the composite of thousands of decisions which could have been decided otherwise" (p.213).
* [STAT] Union of International Associations, Yearbook of International Organizations show a historical change of international nongovernmental social change organizations.
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