Abstract
International advocacy strategies devised for the political environment in which World Bank policy is decided are often not suitable for advocacy on broader financial policy and trade issues. Advocacy in these “new” agendas challenges prevailing models, which depict NGOs as mobilizing powerful governments and international organizations to influence a government's behavior. The patterns of international NGO political activity are diverse, sometimes restraining the power of international rules and authorities over individual governments, and require a new or broader model
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
50 Years Is Enough (1994). Platform summary. www.50years.org/about/platform.html
Aitack, I. (1999). Four criteria of development NGO legitimacy. World Dev. 27(5): 855-864.
Arts, B. (1998). The Political Influence of Global NGOs: Case Studies on the Climate and Biodiversity Conventions, International Books, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Bowles, I., and Kormos, C. (1995). Environmental reform at the World Bank: The role of the U.S. Congress. VA J. Int. Law 35(4): 777-839.
Bread for the World Institute (September 1999). Debt & Development Dossier, Issues 1 and 2, Bread for the World Institute, Silver Spring, MD.
Chiriboga, M. (2001). Constructing a southern constituency for global advocacy: The experience of Latin American NGOs and the World Bank. In: Edwards, M., and Gaventa, J. (eds.), Global Citizen Action, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 73-86.
Church World Service (n.d.). Africa: In Bondage to Debt, Church World Service, New York.
Consumer Project on Technology, Médicins sans frontières, and Oxfam (2001). Green light to put public health first at WTO ministerial conference in Doha. (Joint statement, November 14, 2001, on file with the author).
Donnelly, E. A. (2002). Transnational advocacy networks: The case of Third World debt and structural adjustment. In: Khagram, S., Riker, J., and Sikkink, K. (eds.), Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 155-180.
Dunning, J. H. (2000). The future of the WTO: A socio-relational challenge? Rev. Int. Pol. Eco. 7(3): 475-483.
Edwards, M. (2000). NGO Rights and Responsibilities: A New Deal for Global Governance, Foreign Policy Centre, London.
Evans, H. (1999). Debt relief for the poorest countries: Why did it take so long? Dev. Policy Rev. 17(3): 267-279.
Fabig, H., and Boele, R. (1999). The changing nature of NGO activity in a globalising World. IDS Bull. 30(3): 58-65.
Florini, A. (ed.) (2000). The Third Force: The Rise of Transnational Civil Society, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Japan Center for International Exchange, Washington, DC.
Food First (April 12, 2002). New OXFAM campaign contradicts developing country demands for WTO reform. Press statement, 2002. www.foodfirst.org/media/press/2002/oxfamreport.html
Fox, J. (1998). When does reform policy influence practice? Lessons from the Bankwide Resettlement Review. In: Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (eds.), The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 303-344.
Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (eds.) (1998). The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Friends of the Earth International (2001). The citizens' guide to trade, environment and sustainability, at http://www.foei.org/trade/activistguide/index.html
Görg, C., and Hirsch, J. (1998). Is international democracy possible? Rev. Int. Polit. Econ. 5(4): 585-615.
Greider, W. (2000). After the WTO protest in Seattle, it's time to go on the offensive: Here's how. Nation January 21.
Halliday, F. (2000). Getting real about Seattle. Millennium 29(1): 123-129.
Interaction (April 5, 2001). Finance for development, minutes of strategy session for NGOs. www.interaction.org/development/finance.htm
Jordan, L., and van Tuijl, P. (2000). Political responsibility in transnational NGO advocacy. World Dev. 28(12): 2051-2065.
Kahn, J. (April 15, 2000). Globalization unifies its many-striped foes. New York Times, p. A5.
Kaldor, M. (2000). 'Civilising’ globalisation? The implications of the ‘Battle in Seattle.' Millennium 29(1): 105-114.
Keck, M. (1998). Planafloro in Rondônia: The limits of leverage. In: Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (ed.), The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 181-218.
Keck, M., and Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Khagram, S. (2000). Toward democratic governance for sustainable development: Transnational civil society organizing around big dams. In: Florini, A. (ed.), The Third Force: The Rise of Transnational Civil Society, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Japan Center for International Exchange, Washington, DC, pp. 83-114.
Khagram, S., Riker, J., and Sikkink, K. (eds.) (2002). Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
McCully, P. (2001). Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, Zed, London.
Miller Adams, M. (1999). The World Bank: New Agendas in a Changing World, Routledge, London.
Moravcsik, A. (2000). The origins of human rights regimes: Democratic delegation in postwar Europe. Int. Organ. 54(2): 217-252.
Nelson, P. J. (1996). Internationalising economic and environmental policy: Transnational NGO networks and the World Bank's expanding influence. Millennium 25(3): 605-633.
Nelson, P. J. (1997). Conflict, legitimacy and effectiveness: Who speaks for whom in transnational NGO networks lobbying the World Bank? Nonprofit Volunt. Sect. Q. 26(4): 421-440.
Nelson, P. J. (2001). Globalization, NGO advocacy, and international financial policy: Unlearning lessons from lobbying the World Bank? Working paper, Oxfam America, Boston, MA.
Nelson, P. J. (2002a). Agendas, accountability and legitimacy among transnational networks of NGOs lobbying the World Bank. In: Khagram, S., Riker, J., and Sikkink, K. (eds.), Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 131-154.
Nelson, P. J. (2002b). Human rights, economic and social policy, and international politics: A new model. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, New Orleans, March 23–27, 2002.
O'Brien, R., Goetz, A. M., Scholte, J. A., and Williams, M. (2000). Contesting Global Governance: Multilateral Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Oxfam America (September 22–23, 1999). Participants: IFIs Global Financial Architecture Workshop. (On file with author)
Oxfam International (2000). A global action plan (GAP) for basic education. www.oxfaminternational.org/educationnow/actionplan/global_action_plan.htm
Oxfam International (2002). Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalization and the Fight against Poverty, Oxfam International.
Pasha, M., and Blaney, D. (1998). Elusive paradise: The promise and peril of global civil society. Alternatives 23: 417-450.
Peoples' Global Action (2000). Worldwide Resistance Roundup: Newsletter “Inspired by” Peoples' Global Action. Peoples' Global Action, London, p. 23.
Position Paper on WTO Negotiations by Women from ACP Countries (November 7–9, 1999). Consultation organized by WIDE. http://eurosur.org/ wide/No%20trades%20in%20HR.htm
Rich, B. (1994). Mortgaging the Earth: The World Bank, Environmental Impoverishment, and the Crisis of Development, Beacon Press, Boston.
Risse, T., Ropp, S. C., and Sikkink, K. (eds.) (1999). The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Roe, E. (1995). Critical theory, sustainable development and populism. Telos 103: 149-162.
Sayer, J. (May 14–20, 2001). Outline of speech by John Sayer, Executive Director of Oxfam International. Inaugural session of the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, Brussels. (On file with the author)
Scholte, J. A. (1998). The IMF and civil society: An underdeveloped dialogue. Paper presented at a Global Workshop on Global Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements, Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, February 28, 1998.
Selverston-Scher, M. (2000). Building international civil society: Lessons from the Amazon Coalition. Paper presented at the conference on Human Rights and Globalization: When Transnational Civil Society Networks Hit the Ground, University of California, Santa Cruz, December 1–2, 2000. www2.ucsc.edu/cgirs/conferences/humanrights/index.html
Sikkink, K. (1993). Human rights, principled issue networks, and sovereignty in Latin America. Int. Organ 47(3): 411-441.
Stecher, H. (May, 1999). Time for a Tobin Tax: Some practical and political arguments. Oxfam GB discussion paper, Oxfam GB, Oxford.
Tarrow, S. (1998). Fishnets, Internets, and Catnets: Globalization and transnational collective action. In: Hanagan, M. P., Moch, L. P., and te Brake, W. (eds.), Challenging Authority: The Historical Study of Contentious Politics, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 228-244.
Tobin Tax Initiative (2000). www.ceedweb.org/iirp/
Tvedt, T. (2002). Development NGOs: Actors in a global civil society or in a new international social system? Voluntas 13(4): 363-376.
Udall, L. (1998). The World Bank and public accountability: Has anything changed? In: Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (eds.), The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 391-436.
Wade, R. (2000). Out of the box: Rethinking the governance of international financial markets. J. Hum. Dev. 1(1): 145-157.
Walter, A. (2001). NGOs, business and international investment: The Multilateral Agreement on Investment, Seattle, and beyond. Glob. Gov. 7(1): 51-74.
Wirth, D. (1998). Partnership advocacy in World Bank environmental reform. In: Fox, J., and Brown, L. D. (eds.), The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 51-79.
Woods, N. (2001). Making the IMF and the World Bank more accountable. Int. Aff. 77(1): 83-100.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nelson, P. New Agendas and New Patterns of International NGO Political Action. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 13, 377–392 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022062010375
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022062010375