The Authority Trap
Strategic Choices of International NGOs
(Cornell University Press, 2017)
LIB 305
Not all international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are created equal, Some have emerged as “leading INGOs” that command deference from various powerful audiences and are well-positioned to influence the practices of states, corporations, and other INGOs. Yet Sarah S. Stroup and Wendy H. Wong make a strong case for the tenuous nature of this position: in order to retain their authority, INGOs such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amnesty International refrain from expressing radical opinions that severely damage their long-term reputation. Stroup and Wong contend such INGOs must constantly adjust their behavior to maintain a delicate equilibrium that preserves their status.
Activists, scholars, and students seeking to understand how international organizations garner and conserve power—and how this affects their ability to fulfill their stated missions—will find much of value in The Authority Trap. The authors use case studies that illuminate how INGOs are received by three main audiences: NGO peers, state policymakers, and corporations. In the end, the authors argue, the more authority an INGO has, the more constrained is its ability to affect the conduct of world politics.
(Description Source: Cornell University Press)
Authors
Wendy H. Wong is a professor of Political Science at UBC Okanagan. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. Her main research interests lie at the crossroads of International Relations and Comparative Politics. She is interested in the politics of organization, why human beings choose to act collectively, their choices to go about doing it, and the effects of those choices. Research interests include: human rights, humanitarianism, international law, social movements, indigenous politics, the rights of ethnic minorities, and the role of networks. Her research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Successful Societies research program. Her book, Internal Affairs, was published by Cornell University Press in 2012.
Sarah S. Stroup is an associate professor of Political Science at Middlebury College.
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Paper ISBN: 9781501702150
Hardback ISBN: 9781501702143
eBook ISBN: 9781501712418
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