Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Civil Society Actors as Catalysts for Transnational Social Learning

  • Published:
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This paper explores the roles of transnational civil society organizations and networks in transnational social learning. It begins with an investigation into social learning within problem domains and into the ways in which such domain learning builds perspectives and capacities for effective action among domain organizations and institutions. It suggests that domain learning involves problem definition, direction setting, implementation of collective action, and performance monitoring. Transnational civil society actors appear to take five roles in domain learning: (1) identifying issues, (2) facilitating voice of marginalized stakeholders, (3) amplifying the importance of issues, (4) building bridges among diverse stakeholders, and (5) monitoring and assessing solutions. The paper then explores the circumstances in which transnational civil society actors can be expected to make special contributions in important problem domains in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Argyris, C., and Schön, D. A. (1996). Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice, Addison-Wesley Publishing, Reading, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, J. (2000). Strategic collaboration between nonprofits and businesses. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 29(1), 69–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartley, T. (2003). Certifying forests and factories: States, social movements, and the rise of private regulation in the apparel and forest products fields. Politics and Society 31(3), 433–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batliwala, S. (2002). Grassroots movements as transnational actors: Implications for global civil society. Voluntas 13(4), 393–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batliwala, S., and Brown, L. D. (eds.) (2006). Transnational Civil Society: An Introduction, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boli, J., and Thomas, G. M. (1999). Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botkin, J. W., Elmandjra, M., and Malitza, M. (1979). No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap. A Report to the Club of Rome, A. Wheaton, Exeter, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brechin, S. (ed.) (2003). Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity Conservation with Social Justice in the Twenty-First Century, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D. (1991). Bridging organizations and sustainable development. Human Relations 44(8), 807–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D. (1999). Social learning in south-north coalitions: Constructing knowledge systems across social chasms. In: D. Lewis (ed.), International Perspectives on Voluntary Action, Earthscan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. D., and Ashman, D. (1999). Social capital, mutual influence, and social learning in intersectoral problem-solving. In: D. Cooperrider and J. Dutton (eds.), Organizational Dimensions of Global Change, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 139–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brysk, A., and Jacquemin, C. (2006, forthcoming). Human rights: Bridging borders. In: S. Batliwala and L. D. Brown (eds.), Transnational Civil Society: An Introduction, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cash, D. W. (2001). In order to aid in diffusing useful and practical information: Agricultural extension and boundary organizations. Science, Technology and Human Values 26(4), 431–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. D. (ed.) (2003a). Globalizing Civic Engagement: Civil Society and Transnational Action, Earthscan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. D. (2003b). Worlds Apart: Civil Society and the Battle for Ethical Globalization, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W. C. (2001). Social learning. In: A. S. Goudie and D. J. Cuff (eds.), Encyclopedia of Global Change: Environmental Change and Human Society, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 382–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudley, N., and Stolton, S. (1999). Partnerships for Protection: New Strategies for Planning Management for Protected Areas, Earthscan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, M. (2004). Civil Society, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, M., and Gaventa, J. (2001). Global Citizen Action, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eijndhoven, J. V., Clark, W. C., and Jager, J. (2000). The long-term development of global environmental risk management: Conclusions and implications for the future. In: The Social Learning Group (Ed.), Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 181–197.

  • Finger, M., and Verlaan, P. (1995). Learning our way out: A conceptual framework of social-environmental learning. World Development 23(3), 503–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnemore, M. (1998). International norm dynamics and political change. International Organization 52(4), 887–917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Florini, A. (2003). The Coming Democracy: New Rules for Running a New World, Island Press, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florini, A. M. (ed.) (2000). The Third Force: The Rise of Transnational Civil Society, The Japan Center for International Exchange and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tokyo and Washington, DC.

  • Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (eds.) (1998). The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, F. (2000). A global network to curb corruption: The experience of Transparency International. In: A. Florini (ed.), The Third Force: The Rise of Transnational Civil Society, The Japan Center for International Exchange and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tokyo and Washington, DC, pp. 17–47.

  • Gordenker, L., and Weiss, T. H. (1995). NGO participation in the international policy process. Third World Quarterly 16(3), 543–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, B. G. (1989). Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

  • Hall, A. (1992). From victims to victors. In: M. Edwards and D. Hulme (eds.), Making a Difference, Earthscan, London, pp. 148–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajer, M. A. (1995). The Politics of Environmental Discourse, Ecological Modernization, and the Policy Process, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, A. J. (2001). From Heresy to Dogma: An Institutional History of Corporate Environmentalism, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingelhart, R. (1990). Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. A. (1986). Confronting corporate power: Strategies and phases of the Nestlé Boycott. In: L. Preston and J. Post (eds.), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy 8, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 323–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson R. (2000). Advocates and activists: Conflicting approaches on nonproliferation and the Test Ban Treaty. In: A. M. Florini (ed.), The Third Force: the Rise of Transnational Civil Society, The Japan Center for International Exchange and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tokyo and Washington, DC, pp. 49–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor, M. (2003). Global Civil Society: An Answer to War, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane, J. (2003). Transnational Civil Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keck, M., and Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists Beyond Borders, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khagram, S. (2004). Dams and Development: Transnational Struggles for Water and Power, Cornell University Press, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khagram, S., Riker, J., and Sikkink, K. (eds.) (2002). Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks and Norms, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klandermans, B. (1997). The Social Psychology of Protest, Blackwell, Oxford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korten, D. C. (1981). The management of social transformation. Public Administration Review 41(6), 609–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, K. N. (1993). Compass and the Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment, Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindenberg, M., and Bryant, C. (2001). Going Global: Transforming Relief and Development NGOs, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milbrath, L. W. (1989). Envisioning a Sustainable Society: Learning Our Way Out, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mock, G. (2003). Undue influence: Corruption and natural resources. In: World Resources 2002–2004, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, pp. 36–37.

  • Najam, A. (1996). Understanding the third sector: Revisiting the prince, the merchant, and the citizen. Nonprofit Management and Leadership 7(2), 203–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J., and Donahue, K. (eds.) (2001). Governance in a Globalizing World, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettifor, A. (2000). Jubilee 2000 and the multilateral institutions. In: M. Lavoie (ed.), Human Security: New Definitions and Roles for Global Civil Society, Forum International de Montreal, Montreal, Canada, pp. 25–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rischard, J. F. (2002). High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them, Basic Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Risse T. (2000). The power of norms versus the norms of power: Transnational civil society and human rights. In: A. M. Florini (ed.), The Third Force: the Rise of Transnational Civil Society, The Japan Center for International Exchange and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tokyo and Washington, DC, pp. 177–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Risse, T. S., Ropp, C., and Sikkink, K. (eds.) (1999). The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, M. G. M. (2004). Advocating for the environment. Environment 46(2), 14–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rondinelli, D. (1983). Development Projects as Policy Experiments, Methuen, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggie, J. G. (2003). Taking embedded liberalism global: The corporate connection. In: D. Held and M. Koenig-Archibugi (eds.), Taming Globalization: Frontiers of Governance, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 93–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggie, J. G. (2002). Lecture on the Global Compact at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

  • Smith, J., Chatfield, C., and Pagnucco, R. (eds.) (1997). Transnational Social Movements and World Politics: Solidarity beyond the State, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, D., and Bedford, R. (1988). Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization. In: B. Klandermans, H. Kriesi, and S. Tarrow (eds.), From Structure to Action: Comparing Social Movement Research Across Cultures, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 197–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Social Learning Group (2001). Learning to Manage Global Environmental Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. (ed.) (2004). Creating a Better World: Interpreting Global Civil Society, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, E. P. (2003). Bringing Society Back In: Grassroots Ecosystem Management, Accountability and Sustainable Communities, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zadek, S. (2004). The path to corporate responsibility. Harvard Business Review 82(12), 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Clive Goodinson for designing the graphics for this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. David Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brown, L.D., Timmer, V. Civil Society Actors as Catalysts for Transnational Social Learning. Voluntas 17, 1–16 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-005-9002-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-005-9002-0

KEY WORDS:

Navigation