Organizing Globally

Abstract

In this chapter we focus on how the Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) federation organizes itself. The analysis is divided into two parts: first, its formal structure; second, the evidence on participation in practice — including the question of which groups constitute the core of the FoEI network. We show that while participation in FoEI by national groups is uneven, power is not concentrated in Northern groups. This is important because many commentators have been pessimistic about the prospects for effective transnational organizational structures that enable activism by Southern groups.