This chapter sets out the overall motivation, context, concepts, and outline of the book. As its motivation, the volume is instigated by a question both compact in its formulation and sweeping in... Show moreThis chapter sets out the overall motivation, context, concepts, and outline of the book. As its motivation, the volume is instigated by a question both compact in its formulation and sweeping in its implications: namely, how are we being governed today? The chapter notes that this question has attracted much creative thought across disciplines and perspectives over recent decades. However, the various approaches have rarely come into a cross-fertilizing conversation with one another. This book aims to effect such a dialogue around the core notion of polycentric governing as well as more specific themes of techniques, power and legitimacy. The chapter distinguishes four broad streams of theorizing polycentric governing: organizational, socio-legal, relational and structural. This fourfold categorization also informs the four-part organization of the book. Show less
How does governing work today? How does society (mis)handle pressing challenges such as armed violence, cultural difference, ecological degradation, economic restructuring, geopolitical shifts,... Show moreHow does governing work today? How does society (mis)handle pressing challenges such as armed violence, cultural difference, ecological degradation, economic restructuring, geopolitical shifts, global pandemics, migration flows, and technological change in ways that are (not) democratic, effective, fair, peaceful, and sustainable? This volume addresses these key questions with reference to the theme of 'polycentrism', i.e. the idea that contemporary governing is dispersed, fluctuating, messy, elusive, and headless. Chapters develop this notion of polycentrism from the perspectives of a broad spectrum of academic disciplines and theoretical approaches, offering comprehensive coverage of exciting new thinking about how today's world is (mis)ruled. The book identifies four paradigms of knowledge about polycentric governing - organizational, legal, relational, and structural - and pursues conversations across the divides that normally keep these approaches within separate research communities. These exceptional inter-paradigm exchanges focus particularly on issues of techniques (how governing is done), power (what forces drive governing), and legitimacy (whether governing is rightful). Comparisons between the multiple perspectives on polycentric governing highlight, and help to clarify, the distinctive emphases, potentials, and limitations of each approach. In addition, various combinations of the different theories generate promising novel avenues of thought about polycentrism. The book will allow readers to develop and refine their own understandings of governing today and hence to become more empowered political subjects. Show less
This chapter reviews and consolidates the findings of the volume. The editors reflect on the contributions and limitations of polycentrism as a core concept for understanding governing today; on... Show moreThis chapter reviews and consolidates the findings of the volume. The editors reflect on the contributions and limitations of polycentrism as a core concept for understanding governing today; on techniques, power and legitimacy as three core issues of polycentric governing; on the typology of organizational, legal, relational and structural theories; and on the methodology of interparadigm dialogue of difference. The chapter also explores possibilities of transcending the typology and combining insights from the four approaches in a more holistic understanding of governing. Show less
Koinova, M.; Deloffre, M.Z.; Gadinger, F.; Mencutek, Z.S.; Scholte, J.A.; Steffek, J. 2021
This forum reimagines polycentric governance. It develops ideas of “ordered polycentrism” that can help international relations scholarship make fuller sense of contemporary governance of global... Show moreThis forum reimagines polycentric governance. It develops ideas of “ordered polycentrism” that can help international relations scholarship make fuller sense of contemporary governance of global affairs. How can we theorize the implicit bonding forces that bring deeper order to the surface disorganization of polycentric governance? We offer a key corrective to actor-focused institutionalist understandings by showing how polycentrism also involves deeper relations and structures. Six contributions offer various avenues to theorize deeper order in polycentric governance, each with reference to a substantive issue area. Jens Steffek draws upon constructivist theory of “norms” to argue that standards acquire autonomous ordering power in polycentric governance of global business. Maryam Deloffre adopts a “metagovernance” perspective to identify norms as aspirational visions structuring the regulation of humanitarian assistance. Next, Frank Gadinger explores polycentrism through the lens of “practices” that organize the everyday activities by multiple actors such as negotiating as well as the objects, technologies and expertise they use in these governance efforts. Zeynep Mencutek highlights “techniques” as micro-carriers of ordering practices in polycentric governance of irregular migration, stretching the limits of institutional rules. Maria Koinova discusses “informality” as a deeper structuring force in the governance of transit migration and diasporas, and how it is shaped by state capacities, political regimes, and regional dynamics. Finally, Jan Aart Scholte adds “underlying order” through macro-frameworks and, with illustrations from Internet governance, suggests that polycentrism is structured through a threefold combination of norms, practices, and underlying orders. Together, the six commentaries offer a menu of ways that future research can explore order in what institutionalism has depicted as chaos. Show less
