The standard theoretical account of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) is one of principled non-state actors remaking world politics by upsetting conventional notions of power in the international system. Relying on persuasion and framing instead of disruption and protest, these global networks of activists, NGOs, scientists and technical experts transform states and their preferences by developing, promoting, and monitoring compliance with norms. At the core of this literature is an implicit assumption of fixity in the moral commitments of TANs that galvanizes collective identity, sustains transnational mobilization, and ultimately allows them to leverage actors much more powerful than themselves. By contrast, this dissertation develops a theory of “advocacy drift” based on a selection of transnational issue campaigns in the People’s Republic of China. It argues that in state-dominated contexts with highly developed institutions of social control, immovable national interests sometimes exert transformative effects on the principled goals of activist campaigns or see the TAN incorporated into the state itself. This finding not only suggests that authoritarian governments influence advocacy networks just as advocates can influence those governments, but that the preferences and identities of TANs are less static than previously thought, and may shift in response to exogenous environmental stimuli. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-08 21:05:30.662

This report explores the evolution of advocacy strategies amongst human rights organizations in El Salvador over the past two decades, focusing in particular on domestic activists’ perceived need to use transnational venues for activism in order to achieve positive domestic results. The Salvadoran political transition in 2009 is used to examine how changing political opportunity structures at the domestic level affect human rights organizations’ transnational strategies. Extensive in-country fieldwork in 2011 involved eighteen in-depth interviews with activists, academics, and government officials, four months of participant observation with one of the human rights organizations of interest, and primary document content analysis. The results of this research allow for two human rights networks to be considered: the historical human rights movement seeking justice and reparations for human rights violations committed during the Salvadoran civil war, and the contemporary migrants’ rights movement seeking both protection and reparations for Salvadoran migrants and their families. The findings suggest that despite significant openness at the domestic level, activists perceive transnational strategies as an important complement to domestic strategies that allow them to achieve positive concrete change and protect against future reversals in policy. / text

As organized global actors, transnational advocacy networks (TANs) are an emerging way of people getting their voice heard and to make a change in global governance. Influencing policy-makers through advocacy has an identified connection to the legitimacy of the organization where the general assumption is that a higher legitimacy facilitates influence. In this thesis we have approached this situation from a strategic standpoint. Seeing as TANs – like most organizations – follow a strategy in order to achieve their goals, we wanted to see how legitimacy can be included as a part of the TANs strategy. This included describing the connections between the TAN as an organization and the legitimacy potential in both the organizational form and their actions. Our empirical findings suggested a close relationship between a TAN’s legitimacy and their stance with a policy-making institution, which led to a focus on these institutions as a target for TANs and their advocacy. We developed on this relation and outlined a suggestion for a strategic framework for TANs to consider when strategizing around legitimacy. We found that two main paths – named the Insider and the Outsider strategies – illustrate the options and implications a TAN is faced with on the topic of strategic legitimacy. The results constitute a contribution to the development of TAN strategy, a field that in the time of our writing this remains underexplored territory. We suggest that this field can be further developed by continuous research and we hope that this thesis is a contribution to that development.

Transnational advocacy networks (TANs) are a rapidly proliferating phenomenon in international contentious politics. Widely known for waging headline-grabbing wars of words, TANs remain under-theorised on important levels of analysis. Unsurprisingly, they have been termed ‘elusive’ in the political literature. Typically portrayed as vital service-providing agencies that by-pass official controls to relay civil society concerns to the world’s media and international policy-makers, TANs are commonly assumed to be the vociferous, Internet-enabled, offspring of traditional NGOs and, thus, heirs to the reputational capital of NGOs. However, despite this respected provenance, it is evident that TANs frequently fail to achieve their goals. Knowledge of why some TAN strategies succeed while others fail is contested and inconclusive. This empirical thesis attempts to build on the international political literature by showing why the emerging NGO typology of TANs cannot be explained without paying attention to the systemic complexity of their environment and the essentially communicative functioning of these globe-spanning advocacy cooperatives. It seeks to demonstrate also the analytical value of applying complex realism in IR praxis. Hence, the thesis explicates a real-world conundrum: What is the place and function of transnational advocacy networks in the contemporary international system and how effective are they in achieving their aims? To identify macro-structural conditions and indicators of relationship quality — primarily involving state and non-state elements in the context of the United Nations — the thesis study reclaimed macro-sociological perspective as a first stage, ‘top-down’ approach to this complex, multi-dimensional problem space. The resultant data and patterns were then tested by way of a second-stage, micro-sociological, ‘bottom-up’, case study exploration of the UN’s interface with three iconic TANs — Greenpeace, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch. By conceptualising these relationships as intersections between systemic elements constituted on different social levels and scales of complexity, the scalable methodology enabled the study to transcend the micro-macro problems inherent in the primary research question. The results indicate that TANs are a distinctive typology of NGO that the international system is struggling to evaluate and accommodate within existing arrangements for NGO engagement. Unexpectedly, the study found plausible indications that the barriers many TANs encounter are endogenously produced. The results challenge prevailing assumptions about the place and function of grassroots diplomacy in the international arena; the ability of communications strategies to remedy global problems; and the reality and limitations of ‘people power’. By highlighting under-exposed features of the contemporary international relational landscape, the thesis argues, we might better determine whether many contemporary TANs are, in fact, evolving as the best-suited champions for the urgent, political quests they adopt.

none

It is widely suggested that, in domestic environment, abundant private social network can make a huge impact in many aspect and vice versa. Then the same concept could also be applicable in international relations, and help mobilize sovereignty states? A rich literature also theorizes about the development of these phenomena among non-state actors that may signal the emergence of a new global civil society. While experts were continue discussing such subject, the transnational relationship scholars Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink unveiled the concept of ¡§transnational advocacy network¡¨(hereafter TANs) being a tightly knit community of transnational members with shared believes and identity named ¡§issue-net work¡¨. Its strategies related to this activity in term of ¡§arguing power¡¨ and ¡§norm instrumental pressures¡¨. Then several questions can also be raised following its detail: How come did they make it success while others fail? Besides, if we ignored some factors during this ¡§network connecting¡¨ process¡HFinally, to what extent did they interact with sovereignty states? In the case of FaLun Gong group, its network structure is very complete and huge, but according to the consequence of its advocacy target ; suggested it fail to its campaign activity, then how would TANs theory help explain such consequence? This research observes the transformed of FLG TANs, and tries to tackle the above-mentioned questions. Therefore, may it could suggest some empirical experience from the outcome of this research, to those NGOs or non-state actors who devote in environment or human right campaign.

Before 1978, Chinese dam policies were tallied with the political movement ¡§Big Leap¡¨, people all obeyed the order no matter they were under the situation of lacked of instruments. Sanmenxia can be a special sample. ZhouEnlai¡¦s chrisma made people did their best on dam projects. This could be said that dam construction policies were methods to show the authority of the leader and the state. And further, under the system of people¡¦s commune and SOEs, the state can totally control the society. After executing the opening reform policy in 1978, social organizations were in bud in China. Since 1994, environmental non-government organizations (ENGO) dramatically grew up and played an important role in anti-dam movements, in addition the international non-government organizations joined the movement, and then the two kinds of organizations became transnational advocacy networks. However, the transnational advocacy networks successfully stopped the projects of Nu River and Hutiaoxia. In this study, the documentary analysis is the key research methodology and the dam construction is the case to illustrate the purpose of constructing dam in China. Furthermore, this thesis would make a description of the reasons of anti-dam movements, the emergence of NGOs and ENGOs, and the cooperation with INGOs to confer the transforming State-Society relations in China.

This dissertation explores why and how political advocacy emerged as a dominant organizational strategy for NGOs in the international development education field. In order to answer this central question, I adopt a comparative case-study approach, examining the evolution of policy advocacy positions at two leading NGOs in the field: ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE). Although these organizations differ in significant ways, both place political advocacy at the centre of their mandates, and both have secured prominent positions in global educational governance. Through comparative analysis, I shed light on why these organizations have assumed leadership roles in a global advocacy movement. I focus on how the shift to policy advocacy reflects the internal environment of each organization as well as broader trends in the international development field. Ideas of structure and agency are thus central to my analysis. I test the applicability of two structural theories of social change: world polity theory and political opportunity theory; as well as two constructivist approaches: strategic issue framing and international norm dynamics. I offer some thoughts on establishing a more dynamic relationship between structure and agency, drawing on Fligstein and McAdam’s concept of strategic action fields. In order to test the utility of these theoretical frameworks, the study begins with a historical account of how ActionAid and ASPBAE have shifted from service- and practice- oriented organizations into political advocates. These histories are woven into a broader story of normative change in the international development field. I then examine the development of a number of key advocacy strategies at each organization, tracing how decisions are made and implemented as well as how they are influenced by the broader environment. I find that while it is essential to understand how global trends and norms enable and constrain organizational strategy, the internal decision-making processes of each organization largely shape how strategies are crafted and implemented. These findings offer insight into the pursuit of advocacy as a political strategy and the role of NGOs in global social change.

This dissertation explores why and how political advocacy emerged as a dominant organizational strategy for NGOs in the international development education field. In order to answer this central question, I adopt a comparative case-study approach, examining the evolution of policy advocacy positions at two leading NGOs in the field: ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE). Although these organizations differ in significant ways, both place political advocacy at the centre of their mandates, and both have secured prominent positions in global educational governance. Through comparative analysis, I shed light on why these organizations have assumed leadership roles in a global advocacy movement. I focus on how the shift to policy advocacy reflects the internal environment of each organization as well as broader trends in the international development field. Ideas of structure and agency are thus central to my analysis. I test the applicability of two structural theories of social change: world polity theory and political opportunity theory; as well as two constructivist approaches: strategic issue framing and international norm dynamics. I offer some thoughts on establishing a more dynamic relationship between structure and agency, drawing on Fligstein and McAdam’s concept of strategic action fields. In order to test the utility of these theoretical frameworks, the study begins with a historical account of how ActionAid and ASPBAE have shifted from service- and practice- oriented organizations into political advocates. These histories are woven into a broader story of normative change in the international development field. I then examine the development of a number of key advocacy strategies at each organization, tracing how decisions are made and implemented as well as how they are influenced by the broader environment. I find that while it is essential to understand how global trends and norms enable and constrain organizational strategy, the internal decision-making processes of each organization largely shape how strategies are crafted and implemented. These findings offer insight into the pursuit of advocacy as a political strategy and the role of NGOs in global social change.

No description available.