The practices of NGOs and development agencies located in the global North have been criticised for displaying (post-)colonial continuities. Concurrently, western feminism has been critiqued for assuming universality in the experiences of white western women. Hence there is a need for reflection on operating within and resisting of these power structures. Using interview data, this thesis investigates the reflections of women NGO workers located in the global North working on gendered issues to support women in and from the global South. The thesis situates the women’s reflections in the context of the critiques arising from feminist theory, postcolonial theory, global civil society and critical development literature. In this theoretically informed empirical study it is analysed how the women NGO workers understand their own work practices and how they negotiate their relations with the women they seek to support. This work can be placed within a relatively new genre within critical development literature, which focuses on the subjectivities, experiences, and identity construction of NGO and development workers. The aim of the thesis is first to contribute to our understanding of the complexities and contradictions in the positioning of women who engage in justice seeking practices related to gendered issues in a global context. Second, the intention of this work is to enhance the reflexive and analytic practices of NGOs/IGOs and their employees. The thesis sketches a multi-faceted picture of the women NGO workers that transcends the good versus bad binary; it argues that while the narratives of the women NGO workers underline their complicity in hegemonic discourses, the narratives also show their awareness of the contentiousness of their position and point to possible ruptures of and resistances to the dominant power structures.

This thesis assesses the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as it has played out in Nigeria. The APRM is an initiative by the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to promote good governance through self-assessment and monitoring by African states. The APRM is particularly interesting as a continental (rather than single country) programme which puts the good governance agenda in the hands of African states themselves (rather than international financial institutions, for example). Focusing on the National Programme of Action (NPoA) of 2009 - 2012, the research finds that the APRM has had little or no impact on governance in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the NPoA's limited contributions to national development, the entire process has failed to recognise, engage and tackle the underlying socio-political dynamics of politics in the country, which have the most impact on governance structures and processes. The thesis accounts for this outcome by examining structure (through the role of actors) and underlying socio-political dynamics, both nationally and internationally. In terms of actors the research explores the role of individual leaders, NEPAD and APRM secretariats (national and continental), federal state representatives, regional and sub-regional organisations, international donors, and civil society in the APRM process. In terms of underlying factors, Richard Joseph's theory of prebendalism gives analytical power to understanding the APRM within Nigeria's political culture, while the neo-Gramscian perspective of cultural hegemony enables an analysis of the APRM within the broader international context. Both contribute to a holistic assessment of the APRM in Nigeria. Neither one of these two theoretical contributions is able to offer a comprehensive assessment if used unmodified or on their own. The APRM has the potential to open new political spaces for collaborative engagement between government and civil society in Nigeria, with the possibility of beneficial effects for governance and accountability. So far, however, this potential has not been realised. This must be judged as a significant shortcoming to date.

Identifying human suffering as a socio-political phenomenon challenging the well-being and development of individuals, this work argues that International Relations requires a re-evaluation of its political structures in light of the ends articulated within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its associated International Human Rights Regime. Noting the problem of being, the particular problem of modern cognitive epistemologies this work seeks to ground an alternative philosophical conception of the individual framed within an account of natural law morality. Distinguishing itself from the epistemology of the received view of Modernity, the morality of natural law frames an alternative account of agency, agents, and the community. In its pre-modern form, natural law accounts for both the theoretical and practical reasoning capacities of the agent noting the ontological equality of every individual similar to modern cosmopolitan assumptions. It distinguishes itself from these accounts noting the relativity, and not universal ends of moral deliberations reflected in the tradition of casuistry. Articulating a moral taxonomy reflecting the ends of ‘the good’ this methodology is at odds with the stability of static political structures. Consequently, the natural law community is able to sustain an account of political pluralism, developing the unique qualities and characteristics distinguishing each and every agent. The plurality of life paths, alongside the equality of being, is reflected in the common good, the institutional representation of the personal relationships sustaining and furthering the development of morality mirroring the well-being and development of the moral agent. Articulating the art of politics, the cumulative appraisal of these ideas reveals an objective account of being political. Endorsing ‘being human in common’, it further institutionalizes the relationships of being reflected in the synthesis of philia and agape relations accounting for a personal account of politics. Noting the influential nature of coordinated political action, reflected in an ethic of love, this objective interpretation synthesizes local knowledge and customs alongside the universality of ‘the good’ addressing the particular developmental needs of suffering agents. Culminating in an account of the politics of potential, a realistic appraisal of the ends of this account of being political is mindful that political change, both solitary and in common, reflects the equal capacity of the agent to do both good and evil. Consequently, the hope of the politics of potential distinguishes itself from modern interpretations of politics equally aware of both the positive and negative attributes of contemporary human nature affecting those agents endeavoring to embark on the task of international institutional design.

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It is a rare multinational corporation which neglects to express interest in Corporate Social Responsibility. Across countries, across industries and across organisations, ideas about ‘giving back’, ‘working with communities’, and ‘being responsible’ are discussed as commonly as profit margins and shareholder return. Despite, or perhaps because of, this plenitude, there remains confusion in understandings of what this phenomenon actually is and how it works. Of particular relevance for scholars of International Relations are lacunae in understanding how such an idea, value-based and emphasising organisational consistency, can be meaningful for actors operating simultaneously in many diverse locations, and under the freedom of international anarchy. Further, questions arise about what this phenomenon, reliant on ideas of good and bad, may illuminate about the movement of norms through the international system. These are the two interrelated problems that the dissertation seeks to address. Following a constructivist approach, the dissertation uses a qualitative case study method, focusing on one main corporate case (Rio Tinto Group). Insights derived from the main case study are then compared with two secondary corporate cases, to strengthen their validity and reliability. Key findings about the operational question, of how corporate social responsibility operates in multinational firms, point to the importance of broad, non-prescriptive and value-based policies at the global corporate level, with plenty of space for flexibility and variation in local implementation. In this way, corporations are able both to claim global consistency and local appropriateness. Insights about the movement of norms through the international system then follow, taking their cue from the well-known work of Finnemore and Sikkink (1998). The study finds that, while the essence of their ‘downwards’ model remains valid, applying it to the workings of international CSR points up limitations. Specifically, it appears that norms can move in various directions, not only ‘downwards’, but also ‘upwards’, as well as in cycles. Further, it appears that the direction of movement is influenced by local circumstances, and in particular the stability of the local political and economic environment.

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This dissertation examines the consequences of presidential change for American foreign policy toward Latin America during the post World War II era. It focuses upon five dimensions of inter-American relations and analyzes the effects of presidential succession upon these foreign policy behaviors: Economic and military aid, bilateral international agreements, symbolic attention toward Latin America, and political use of force in Latin America. Using time-series analysis, this research tests the hypothesis that foreign policy should be largely immune from the effects of changing presidencies. The empirical findings lend qualified support to this expectation. The political use of force appears largely immune from the influence of presidential succession. The allocation of economic aid as well as the creation of international agreements and symbolic attention all appear minimally susceptible to presidential change. Military aid, on the other hand, is noticeably sensitive to fluctuations in leadership.

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