The ongoing macrotrend of globalization and some of its most recent negative expressions –the overlapping economic and financial crises plaguing most of the globe since 2008– highlight the limitations nation-states face in solving economic problems unilaterally. Moreover, the deterioration of the environment and global warming are environmental problems no country can solve alone. In effect, the notion of sovereignty is being defied by the global challenges humankind is facing. In this context, international and transnational institutions become ever more crucial to coping with problems that reach across boundaries and affect the entire world.
However, existing institutions are often critiqued for being ineffective and undemocratic, and at a time when global governance is most needed, there is simultaneously a sense of impossibility of reaching large-scale multilateral consensus and agreements (e.g. global financial regulation, Doha round trade negotiation, climate change agreements). Achieving fair and effective global governance of common problems —and finding the right forms for it— thus remains a major challenge. The aim of the Barcelona Workshop on Global Governance is to provide a venue for the study of global governance —its structure, effects, and problems— from an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together scholarship from international relations, law, sociology, public administration and history.
The focus of the 2014 edition of the Barcelona Workshop on Global Governance will be on the relational nature of global governance, mainly on network approaches. Network approaches have become increasing attractive in recent years for framing and understanding the particular institutional structures of global governance. They draw further insights from governance trends at the domestic level, while simultaneously highlighting differences. The aim of the 2014 workshop is to examine the potential and
limitations of network approaches, as well as the challenges that networked governance at the global level can pose in terms of effectiveness, accountability and democracy. With this overarching aim in mind, the workshop will focus on the following questions:
- Which network and organizational forms do global institutions adopt in order to facilitate cooperation in solving global problems?
- To what extent do network approaches help us to understand the structure of global governance?
- How do governance networks at the global and transnational level differ from those at the national
level? - How can global governance networks be held accountable?
- What role does power play in networked governance at the global level?
Contributions from all related disciplines are welcome.
Venue
January 9, 2014: Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI)
January 10, 2014: Esade Business and Law School
Organized by
EsadeGeo-Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, www.esadegeo.com
Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), www.ibei.org
Organizing Committee
Xavier Fernández i Marín (ESADE)
Jacint Jordana Casajuana (IBEI-UPF)
Robert Kissack (IBEI)
Nico Krisch (ICREA-IBEI)
Carlos Losada Madorrán (ESADE)
Angel Saz-Carranza (ESADE).