Non-state actors play an increasingly visible role in global governance and maintain increasingly complex transnational relations across state boundaries. This seminar will introduce students to the analysis of non-state activism (primarily focused on non-governmental organizations, NGOs) and its role in shaping global institutions and domestic political and social change. The first part of the seminar discusses basic definitions and distinctions (transnationalism, not-for-profit sector, advocacy/service, North-South issues) and survey the theoretical literature on transnational non-state activism. The second part of the seminar focuses on substantive questions capturing the organization of transnational non-state actors and activism, including governance, effectiveness/impact, networking/collaboration, and accountability. The third main part of the seminar reviews the role of non-state actors across major sectors of transnational activism: humanitarian aid, global health, environmental protection, development, and human rights. Questions addressed in this seminar include:   (download syllabus 2009, .pdf-file)

·        What accounts for the emergence and evolution of transnational actors, their goals, and strategies/tactics?
·        What explains the growing prominence of non-state actors in global affairs?
·        What criteria should be used to evaluated NGO activities?
 ·        What the opportunities and challenges of transnational collaboration (in networks or partnerships)?
·        How and why do experiences of non-governmental activism vary across regions and issue areas?
·        How do transnational NGOs deal with demands from their multiple stakeholders?
 ·        How legitimate are transnational interventions orchestrated by non-state actors?
·        What are the limits of transnational activism? 

Additional suggested readings: see Blackboard.
 
Schedule
Part I What is transnational activism?
Week 1 Course introduction
September 3 Non-state actors in global affairs
Readings 1. Willetts, Peter (2002) What is a Non-Governmental Organization?, in Knowledge for Sustainable Development. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, Vol. 3, UNESCO Publishing.
2. Martens, Kerstin (2002) 'Mission Impossible. Defining Nongovernmental Organizations' Voluntas. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 13 (3), 271-285.
3. Kerlin, Janelle A. and Supaporn Thanasombat (2006) 'The International Charitable Nonprofit Subsector. Scope, Size, and Revenue.' Washington D.C.: Urban Institute.> link
4. Mitchell, George E. and Hans Peter Schmitz (2009) 'Bracing for Impact', in: Monday Developments 27 (4), 20-22.
Online NGO gateway (globalpolicy.org)
 NGOs (University of Minnesota)
United Nations Civil Society Website
Week 2 Transnationalism and non-state actors
September 10 What are transnational NGOs?
Readings 1. Johnson, Erica and Aseem Prakash (2007) 'NGO research program: a collective action perspective.' Policy Sciences 40, 221-240.
2. Gray, Ray, Jan Bebbington and David Collison (2006) 'NGOs, civil society and accountability: making the people accountable to capital,' Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 19 (3), 319-348.
3. Boli, John and George M. Thomas (1999) 'INGOs and the Organization of World Culture,' In Constructing World Culture. International Non-Governmental Organizations Since 1875, eds. John Boli and George M. Thomas. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 13-49.
4. Kennedy, David (2004) The Dark Sides of Virtue. Reassessing International Humanitarianism, Princeton: Princeton UP.
Online Global Civil Society Yearbook (London School of Economics)
Journal of Civil Society (Routledge)
Voluntas
Week 3 Transnationalism and IR theory
Final paper Paragraph stating topic and relevance of your research.
September 17 Studying transnationalism and advocacy groups
Readings 1. Keohane, Robert O. and Joseph S. Nye (1971) 'Introduction', in: Transnational Relations and World Politics, Cambridge: Harvard UP, vii-xxix.
2. Risse-Kappen, Thomas (1995) 'Bringing Transnational Relations Back In: Introduction,' in Bringing Transnational Relations Back In. Non-State Actors, Domestic Structures and International Institutions (Thomas Risse-Kappen, ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 3-33.
3. Risse, Thomas (2001) 'Transnational Actors and World Politics,' in Handbook of International Relations, edited by Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse and Beth Simmons, London: Sage, 255-74.
4. Orenstein, Mitchell A. and Hans Peter Schmitz (2006), 'The New Transnationalism and Comparative Politics,' Comparative Politics 38 (4), 479-500.
Online Union of International Organizations (Yearbook of IOs and NGOs)
UN and Civil Society
Part II  What are the effects of transnational activism?
Week 4 Campaigns and global governance
September 24 ICC, conflict diamonds, landmines, debt relief: agenda-setting power of NGOs
Readings 1. Halliday, Fred (2001) 'The Romance of Non-State Actors.' In Non-State Actors in World Politics, ed. D. Josselin and W. Wallace. Houndmills: Palgrave, 21-40.
2. Price, Richard (1998) 'Reversing the Gun Sights: Transnational Civil Society Targets Land Mines,' International Organization 52 (3), 613-44.
3. Le Billon, Philippe (2006) 'Fatal Transactions: Conflict Diamonds and the (Anti) Terrorist Consumer,' Antipode 38 (4), 778-801.
4. Joachim, Jutta (2003) Framing Issues and Seizing Opportunities. The UN, NGOs, and Women's Rights, International Studies Quarterly 47, 247-74.

Online The International Criminal Court (ICC)
NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
International Action Network on Small Arms
Landmines Campaign
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
The Global Compact (United Nations)
Week 5 Human rights
Final paper One-page outline plus bibliography of your final paper
October 1 Transnationalism and domestic political change
Readings 1. Keck, Margaret E. and Kathryn Sikkink (1998) 'Introduction', in Activists Beyond Borders. Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1-38.
2. Risse, Thomas and Kathryn Sikkink (1999) 'The Socialization of International Human Rights Norms into Domestic Practices,' in The Power of Human Rights. International Norms and Domestic Change, edited by Thomas Risse, Stephen Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1-38.
3. Anja Jetschke (University of Freiburg)/Andrea Liese (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin), The Spiral Model: How Does It Score After Ten Years?
4. Koslinski, Mariane Campelo and Elisa P. Reis (2009) 'Transnational and Domestic Relations of NGOs in Brazil,' World Development 37 (3), 714-725.
5. Schmitz, Hans Peter (2009) 'Transnational Human Rights Networks: Significance and Challenges, International Studies Association Compendium (ISA) project > Link.
Online University of Denver, Human Rights and Human Welfare
University of Chicago, Human Rights research guide
 Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Week 6 Multinational corporations
October 8 Transnational Corporate Networks
Readings 1. Nollert, Michael (2005) 'Transnational Corporate Ties. A Synopsis of Theories and Empirical Findings.' Journal of World-Systems Research 11 (2): 289-314.
2. Kentor, Jeffrey (2005) 'The Growth of Transnational Corporate Networks, 1962-1998.' Journal of World-Systems Research 11 (2): 263-86.
3. Roach, Brian (2005) 'A Primer on Multinational Corporations.' In Leviathans. Multinational Corporations and the New Global History, ed. A. D. Chandler and B. Mazlish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19-44.
Online Journal of World-Systems Research
Week 7 Violent transnational networks
October 15  
Readings 1. Sandler, Todd, Daniel C. Arce, and Walter Enders (2008) "Transnational Terrorism." Copenhagen: Copenhagen Consensus Center.
2. Pape, Robert A (2003) "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism." American Political Science Review 97 (3): 343-61.
3. Moghadam, Assaf (2006) "Suicide Terrorism, Occupation, and the Globalization of Martyrdom: A Critique of Dying to Win." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29: 707-29.
4. Ashworth, Scott, Joshua D. Clinton, Adam Meirowitz, and Kristopher W. Ramsey (2008) "Design, Inference, and the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism." American Political Science Review 102 (2): 269-73.
5. Pape, Robert A. (2008) "Methods and Findings in the Study of Suicide Terrorism." American Political Science Review 102 (2): 275-7.
Online  
Week 8 The humanitarian quagmire    
Final paper 2-3 page introduction of your final paper; answer the following questions: 1. What is the topic and its relevance? 2. How does this paper relate to existing scholarship? 3. What is the main argument? 4. How is the  paper organized?
October 22  The politics of impartiality and neutrality
Readings

1. de Torrente, Nicolas. 2004. 'Humanitarian Action Under Attack: Reflections on the Iraq War' Harvard Human Rights Journal 17 (1), 1-30.
2. O'Brien, Paul. 2004. 'Politicized Humanitarianism: A Response to Nicolas de Torrente.' Harvard Human Rights Journal 17, 31-40.

3. Cooley, Alexander/Ron, James (2002) 'The NGO Scramble,' International Security, 27 (1), 5-39.
4. Walker, Peter (2005) 'Cracking the Code. The Genesis, Use, and Future of the Code of Conduct,' Disasters 29 (4), 323-336.

5. Snyder, Jack and Leslie Vinjamuri (2003) 'Trials and Errors', International Security 28 (3), 5-44.

 
Online International Red Cross
Crimes of War Project
HREA (study guide to humanitarian law)
 International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative
Part III How is transnational activism organized?
Week 9 Issue emergence and mobilization
Final paper Presentations/discussion of introductory section for final paper.
October 29 North-South relations/defining causes
Readings 1. Carpenter, R. Charli (2007) 'Setting the Advocacy Agenda. Issue Emergence and Non-Emergence in Transnational Advocacy Networks' International Studies Quarterly 51 (1), 99-120.
2. Bob, Clifford (2005) The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism, Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
3. Ron, James, Howard Ramos and Kathleen Rodgers (2005) 'Transnational Information Politics. NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986-2000,' International Studies Quarterly 49 (3), 557-587.
 4. Ron, James, Howard Ramos, and Kathleen Rodgers (2006) 'What shapes the West’s human rights focus?' Contexts 5 (3), 23-28.

Online Charli Carpenter
Week 10 Global health
November 5 Limits to effective international action
Readings

1. Morris, Saul S., Bruce Cogill and Ricardo Uauy (2008) 'Effective international action against undernutrition: why has it proven so difficult and what can be done to accelerate progress?' The Lancet 371 (9612), 608-621.

2. Social Impact Advisors (2008) 'Diarrheal Disease Advocacy. Findings from a scan of the global funding and policy landscape,' Washington, D.C.: PATH.

3. Ogden, Jessica, Gill Walt and Louisiana Lush (2003) 'The politics of 'branding' in policy transfer: the case of DOTS for tuberculosis control,' Social Science & Medicine 57 (1), 179-188.

4. Grimm, David (2008) 'Staggering Toward a Global Strategy on Alcohol Abuse,' Science 320 (5878), 862-863.

5. Shiffman, Jeremy (2009) 'A social explanation for the rise and fall of global health issues,' Bulletin of the World Health Organization 87 (8), 608-613.

6. Hall, Nina L. and Ros Taplin (2007) 'Revolution or inch-by-inch? Campaign approaches on climate change by environmental groups,' Environmentalist 27, 95-107.
Online PATH
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Week 11 Development
November 12 The Aid Industry
Readings 1. Nelson, Paul J. and Ellen Dorsey (2007) 'New Rights Advocacy in a Global Public Domain,' European Journal of International Relations 13 (2), 187-216.
2. Gneiting, Uwe, Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken, and Hans Peter Schmitz (2009) 'Setting Higher Goals: Rights and Development.'
3. Harris-Curtis, Emma (2003) 'Rights-Based Approaches: Issues for NGOs.' Development in Practice 13 (5), 558-564.
4. Offenheiser, Raymond C. and Susan H. Holcombe (2003) 'Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing a Rights-Based Approach to Development: An Oxfam America Perspective.' Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 32 (2), 268-301.
5. Clark, John (2003) 'Commentary'; Offenheiser/Holcombe (2003), 'Response to Clark'
6. Fowler, Alan (2005) 'Aid architecture: Reflections on NGDO futures and the emergence of counter-terrorism,' Oxford: Intrac.
Online Oxfam
World Development (journal)
Worldvision
Save the Children
Week 12 Legitimacy and accountability
Final paper Ten pages containing introduction, theory section, and some empirical work.
November 19 Who elected them?
Readings 1. Spar, Debora, and James Dail (2002) 'Of Measurement and Mission. Accounting for Performance in Non-Governmental Organizations.' Chicago Journal of International Law 3 (1), 171-82.
2. Ebrahim, Alnoor (2003) 'Accountability in Praxis. Mechanisms for NGOs,' World Development 31 (5), 813-829.
3. O'Dwyer, Brendan and Jeffrey Unerman (2008) 'The paradox of greater NGO accountability: A case study of Amnesty Ireland,' Accounting, Organizations and Society 33 (7-8), 801-824.
4. Lowell, Stephanie, Brian Trelstad and Bill Meehan (2005) 'The Ratings Game. Evaluating the three groups that rate the charities,' Stanford Social Innovation Review, 39-45.
5. Niehaus, Paul (2003) 'Rating the Charity Raters,' Capital Research Center.
6. Wing, Kennard and Mark A. Hager (2004) 'Getting What We Pay For. Low Overhead Limits Nonprofit Effectiveness,' Washington, D.C.: Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project/Urban Institute.
7. Hager, Mark A. and Ted Flack (2004) 'The Pros and Cons of Financial Efficiency Standards.' Washington, D.C.: Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project/Urban Institute.


Effectiveness/Impact
1. Sowa, Jessica E., Sally Coleman Selden and Jodi R. Sandfort (2004) 'No Longer Unmeasurable? A Multidimensional Integrated Model of Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 33 (4), 711-728.
2. Hopgood, Stephen (2006) Keepers of the Flame. Understanding Amnesty International. Ithaca: Cornell UP.
3. CARE USA (2008) 'Measuring Program Impact,' Brief No. 4 (May 2008).> CARE library.
4. CARE USA (2008) 'What is a Program Approach?,' Brief No. 1 (May 2008). > CARE library.
5. Unerman, Jeffrey and Brendan O'Dwyer (2006) 'Guest Editorial: On James Bond and the importance of NGO accountability,' Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 19 (3), 305-318.
6. Kilby, Patrick (2006) "Accountability for Empowerment: Dilemmas Facing Non-Governmental Organizations." World Development 34 (6), 951-963.
7. Hansch, Steven (2005) 'Measuring Program Impact,' Democracy at large 1 (3), 32-33.

 
Online INGO Accountability Charter
Accountability resources (@Global Development Research Center)
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Charity Navigator
Urban Institute
CARE digital library
Michael Edwards: Just Another Emperor?
Week 13 Thanksgiving
November 26 Thanksgiving break (class cancelled)
Week 14 Presentations
December 3 Panel presentations
Readings Final paper drafts.
Week 15 Presentations and course evaluation
December 10 Panel presentations and course evaluation
Readings Final paper drafts.
December 18 Final paper due (5pm, @100 Eggers Hall, mail room).