Prof. Dr. Charlotte Dany | Hochschule Darmstadt (original) (raw)

Articles by Prof. Dr. Charlotte Dany

Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 2024

The ongoing crisis of refugee protection in Europe exemplifies a tension between providing humani... more The ongoing crisis of refugee protection in Europe exemplifies a tension between providing humanitarian aid and fighting for human rights. Some recent studies have been highly critical of humanitarian action in this context, suggesting that giving aid to refugees in Europe is a substitute for and suppression of human rights work (Dittmer and Lorenz 2021a; Cuttitta 2018; Ticktin 2016). However, humanitarian aid comprises both, humanitarianism and human rights. This study investigates how humanitarian international non-governmental organisations (INGOs)
have striven to protect refugees from North Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine from 2015 to 2023. During this time, many have established new programs in Europe. A content analysis of documents by four humanitarian INGOs shows how they work to integrate both, aid and rights, in their refugee work. This creates certain tensions. For example, the analysis suggests that localisation is one way to integrate human rights into humanitarian action, however at the risk of compromising
humanitarian principles.

Die Friedens-Warte, 2021

Der etablierte Mythos der humanitären Hilfe besagt, dass sie unpolitisch ist. Doch tatsächlich is... more Der etablierte Mythos der humanitären Hilfe besagt, dass sie unpolitisch ist. Doch tatsächlich ist sie auf vielfältige Weise mit Sicherheitspolitik verwoben. Zunehmend werden auch friedenspolitische Ziele mit humanitärer Hilfe verfolgt. Hierfür steht beispielsweise die seit dem UN World Humanitarian Summit 2016 verstärkte Forderung nach einer Verschränkung von humanitärer mit entwicklungs- und friedenspolitischer Arbeit (humanitarian-peace-development nexus, oder triple nexus). Mit dieser Strategie sind Potentiale und Risiken verbunden: Das Potential läge in einer Stärkung von Krisenprävention und ziviler Konfliktbearbeitung. Hierzu könnten auch humanitäre Organisationen einen Beitrag leisten, und damit längerfristige friedenspolitische Ziele verfolgen. Dafür müssten aber diese Ziele sowie Strategien für ihre Umsetzung vor allem auf lokaler Ebene klar formuliert werden. Da dies bislang nicht geschieht, überwiegen unter den humanitären Organisationen die Vorbehalte gegenüber dem triple nexus. Er lässt die Grenzen der humanitären Arbeit zu staatlichen und militärischen Aktivitäten weiter verschwimmen, droht die humanitären Prinzipien zu kompromittieren und behindert die Arbeit humanitärer Organisationen damit eher, statt sie zu fördern.

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2020

This article asks why economically strong democracies reject humanitarian aid after severe natura... more This article asks why economically strong democracies reject humanitarian aid after severe natural disasters, focusing on the Kobe earthquake in Japan (1995), India’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), and Hurricane Katrina in the United States (2005). It explains these rejections of humanitarian aid by analyzing the decision-makers’ ‘self-perceptions’ through the factors of manageability, national role perceptions, and domestic political impact, as well as ’other-perceptions’ through their relations to donors and the nature of the aid offers. It finds that even in those disaster-prepared and economically strong democracies, state leaders rejected humanitarian aid not simply because they had sufficient disaster management capabilities. Rather, bureaucratic hurdles and administrative failure impeded aid acceptance. Moreover, conceptions of those countries’ roles as established or emerging donors, as well as domestic political factors influenced their decisions. Ultimately, the dominant explanations focusing on wealth and capabilities are thus too shortsighted. Not only giving but also rejecting humanitarian aid follows political considerations.

Frontiers, Oct 15, 2021

This contribution discusses whether humanitarian aid is a suitable tool for expressing global sol... more This contribution discusses whether humanitarian aid is a suitable tool for expressing global solidarity in the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the distinction between the concepts of humanitarianism and solidarity, as well as the example of the so-called "refugee crisis," it provides a mixed answer: humanitarian aid and solidarity are, principally, different things, hardly comparable and, at times, even contradictory. However, the corona pandemic presents an opportunity for localization of humanitarian aid, which is an opportunity for greater solidarity with those most in need. To make humanitarian aid a real tool for expressing global solidarity, one would have to regard the recipients of aid as equals and strengthen their agency, as well as that of local and grassroots organizations in the most affected areas-much as the localization agenda demands.

Journal of International Organizations Studies, 2018

This paper conceptualizes NGOs as active norm takers on the basis of conflicts over norms-underst... more This paper conceptualizes NGOs as active norm takers on the basis of conflicts over norms-understood as standards of appropriate behavior-that become manifest in three recent rules and principles of humanitarian aid: responsibility to protect, resilience, and accountability. These are formulated by international organizations or by NGOs themselves, which are to enact and implement them. Before implementation, these rules and principles are (partly) rejected, adopted, specified, or adjusted within humanitarian NGOs during processes of norm translation. We argue that norm translation can be a fruitful avenue for analyzing the autonomy of humanitarian NGOs in relation to one another and in relation to norm-formulating donor institutions. Conceptually, this paper is situated between norms research (with its focus on norm contestation and translation) and organizational research (with its focus on internal organizational dynamics and organizational autonomy).

Global Society, 2019

Due to the recent high influx of refugees, migration has become one of the most politicised issue... more Due to the recent high influx of refugees, migration has become one of the most politicised issues within the European Union (EU). To explore the political agency of humanitarian NGOs, this article analyses the behaviour of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) during the peak of the influx from April 2015 to June 2016. Outrage about the EU's response to the refugee crisis triggered confrontational and politicised strategies from MSF that aimed to enhance contestation and mobilise public opinion. The proximity of the crisis and the organisation's independence and decentralised structure facilitated this political agency. Furthermore, neither MSF's strong commitment to the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, nor its cooperative ties to national and international political elites, hindered its political actions in this situation. This paper therefore refutes the common perspective that humanitarian NGOs are generally cooperative and, ultimately, depoliticising agents in global governance. Under certain conditions, humanitarian NGOs can decide to become highly political and confrontational in opposing national and EU policies. 2

Friedens-Warte. Journal of Peace and Organization, 2019

Die 2005 von der UN Generalversammlung angenommene Responsibility to Protect (R2P) hat zum Ziel, ... more Die 2005 von der UN Generalversammlung angenommene Responsibility to Protect (R2P) hat zum Ziel, Menschen vor besonders schweren Verbrechen zu schützen: vor Kriegsverbrechen, Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit, ethnischer Säuberung und Genozid. Oft übersehen wird im bislang eher staatszentrierten Diskurs der Internationalen Beziehungen, dass auch humanitäre Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGOs) zur Umsetzung der R2P beitragen sollen. Die R2P weist den humanitären NGOs Funktionen zur Prävention von und Reaktion auf Menschheitsverbrechen zu und stellt sie damit in einen völkerrechtlichen Zusammenhang mit „humanitären Interventionen“. Dies verändert die Ausgangslage humanitärer Hilfe von NGOs, denn sie geraten dadurch in Gefahr, ihre Neutralität zu verlieren und als instrumentalisiert wahrgenommen zu werden. NGOs setzen sich daraufhin verstärkt mit der R2P auseinander. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert die Positionen einiger zentraler humanitärer NGOs über die R2P, ihre Auswirkungen auf die Praxis der humanitären Hilfe sowie über die Rolle der NGOs für den Schutz von Menschen vor schweren Verbrechen in Kriegs- und Konfliktsituationen. Diese Diskussionen verdeutlichen das Spannungsfeld zwischen dem humanitären Prinzip der Neutralität und der Gefahr der Instrumentalisierung der humanitären Hilfe, dem sich humanitäre NGOs im Kontext der R2P gegenübersehen. Die Analyse dieser Diskussionen zeigt auch, dass humanitäre NGOs im Kontext der R2P stärker friedenspolitische Aspekte reflektieren.

Syrien, Süd-Sudan und die Demokratische Republik Kongo: Drei zeitgleich stattfindende große human... more Syrien, Süd-Sudan und die Demokratische Republik Kongo: Drei zeitgleich stattfindende große humanitäre Krisen erhöhen derzeit den Druck auf politische Institutionen, humanitäre Hilfe effektiver zu machen. Initiativen, wie der Comprehensive Approach und die Resilienz-Strategie in der EU, oder vernetzte Sicherheit und Preparedness in Deutschland sollen dies ermöglichen. Dieser Beitrag analysiert Stakeholder-Diskussionen über diese politischen Prozesse und bettet sie in aktuelle wissenschaftliche Studien über die Politisierung humanitärer Hilfe ein. So werden mögliche problematische Folgen der strategischen Neuausrichtung der humanitären Hilfe in Deutschland und der EU aufgezeigt, wie die Aufweichung der humanitären Prinzipien, steigende Gefahren für humanitäre Helfer_innen, eine Versicherheitlichung des Politikfeldes und Akzeptanzprobleme. Diese Folgen lassen daran zweifeln, dass die politischen Strategien tatsächlich ihr Ziel erreichen, humanitäre Hilfe effektiver zu machen.

This article discusses the myriad ways in which humanitarian aid is entangled in political proces... more This article discusses the myriad ways in which humanitarian aid is entangled in political processes. A host of new publications sheds a critical but at the same time constructive look at this delicate interrelationship. They highlight different issues, such as new actors, a changing legal framework, violence against aid workers and problems of acceptance. Ultimately the publications aim to formulate viable solutions to overcome the pertinent crisis of humanitarian aid.

Against a background of a generally perceived trend towards the politicization of humanitarian ai... more Against a background of a generally perceived trend towards the politicization of humanitarian aid, this article reviews recent policies by the European Commission as one of the biggest donors of humanitarian aid worldwide. It aims to show how the European Union’s Comprehensive Approach and the Resilience Strategy, in particular, contribute to the politicization of humanitarian aid. Thereby the article focuses on contestation about fundamental humanitarian principles – neutrality, impartiality and independence – in policy-making. It challenges the common wisdom that the EU’s humanitarian aid is void of any political or security interest. Contestation between different stakeholders reveals that humanitarian aid is being politicized, despite the EU’s strong commitment to humanitarian principles, as its policies blur the lines between humanitarian aid, security and development cooperation. The article also highlights the role of non-governmental organizations in challenging and influencing this particular part of EU foreign policy.

Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen

Increasingly, nongovernmental organizations participate in negotiations within international orga... more Increasingly, nongovernmental organizations participate in negotiations within international organizations as well as in global working groups and discussion forums. This trend is commonly said to enable the influence of the participating NGOs. Yet this article highlights the negative effects of the high level of NGO participation on the NGOs' influence. It shows, in the case of the UN World Summit on the Information Society, how the NGOs' influence is reduced to less relevant issues and how this influence turns out to be highly selective: while the views and demands of a few NGO actors are successful, more diverse views from the broader NGO community become neglected. This suggests greater caution regarding the usual claim that more is necessarily better with regard to NGO participation in global governance.

Books by Prof. Dr. Charlotte Dany

Now also availabe as paperback (to be published Nov 28, 2014). This book explores the limits o... more Now also availabe as paperback (to be published Nov 28, 2014).

This book explores the limits of NGO influence and the conditions that constrain NGOs when they participate in international negotiations Through an empirically rich study of the UN World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS) this book conceptualizes structural power mechanisms that shape global ICT governance and analyses the impact of NGOs on communication rights, intellectual property rights, financing, and Internet governance. The institutional framework of UN negotiations makes it easy for states to exclude NGOs from crucial meetings and to neglect their most relevant demands, in part explaining why NGOs had only limited influence on the policy outcomes of the WSIS in Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, although high numbers of NGOs participated. Using a critical perspective, Dany demonstrates that despite the far-reaching participation rights for civil society actors, structural power mechanisms continued to limit the influence of participating NGOs and this contradicts the widely held assumption that extensive NGO participation necessarily increases NGO influence on the policy outcomes. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, global governance, the United Nations, and global information and communication politics.

Book Chapters by Prof. Dr. Charlotte Dany

Deutschland im UN-Sicherheitsrat. Eine Halbzeitbilanz, PRIF Report 6/2019, hg. von Ben Christian und Melanie Coni-Zimmer, 2019

The idea of ‘global governance’ is now firmly established in political science and practice. Most... more The idea of ‘global governance’ is now firmly established in political science and practice. Most generally, it entails that policies affecting people around the globe should be supported by a plethora of actors to ensure their effectiveness and legitimacy. Yet, how are these ideas made relatable to a public, not least a global one? This chapter in "Myth and Narrative in International Politics", edited by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, traces the mythical narratives that sustain global governance.

Although NGOs play a growing role as actors in global governance and as objects of scholarly anal... more Although NGOs play a growing role as actors in global governance and as objects of scholarly analysis, effectiveness continues to be a "rare term" in the study of NGOs. Dany argues that NGO effectiveness relates primarily to the achievement of goals and she further distinguishes between direct and indirect and between substantial and procedural goals. Dany focus on direct goals aimed at achieving substantial changes, such as influencing international negotiations or procedural innovations such as chanigng the terms of NGO participation. Since direct effects are hard to pinpoint empirically, many studies resort to indirect measures that are assumed to indicate a certain degree of effectiveness based on theoretical reasoning or empirical evidence. The most important indicators are actor characteristics and strategies, issue characteristics, and governance structures. However, Dany stresses that inferring effectiveness solely from indirect indicators is insufficient. She proposes a three-step framework for studying direct effectiveness: a comparison between the outcomes and the non-governmental goals, analysis of NGO influence in relation to other actors, and a descriptioin of the causal process that links NGO action to a concrete political outcome. The study of NGO effectiveness is not only plagued by an affirmative bias, but also faces severe analytical problems such as the difficulty of identifying NGOs' 'real' goals or an embeddedness in complex long-term processes. Dany remains skeptical towards universal generalizations and the quantification of NGO influence. Instead, she suggests a more process-based and case-oriented approach employing different methods such as triangulation, process-tracing and counterfactual reasoning.

Papers by Prof. Dr. Charlotte Dany

Zeitschrift für internationale Beziehungen, 2012

Einleitung An die Stelle von purem Optimismus ist heute Skepsis und manchmal sogar ganz und gar P... more Einleitung An die Stelle von purem Optimismus ist heute Skepsis und manchmal sogar ganz und gar Pessimismus getreten: 1 Studien über Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGOs) im Kontext globalen Regierens (Global Governance) formulieren heute häufig eine gänzlich andere Einschätzung der Erfolge und Effekte von NGO-Partizipation als noch vor etwa einem Jahrzehnt. Lediglich Einzelfälle konnten die weitreichenden normativen Hoffnungen auf effektivere und legitimere globale Problemlösung durch NGOs bestätigen, während der Einfluss von NGOs oftmals hinter den Erwartungen der Beteiligten und Beobachter zurück blieb. Daher geraten nun zunehmend Probleme in den Fokus, die die verstärkte Partizipation nicht-staatlicher Akteure im globalen Regieren mit sich bringt. Insbesondere die Repräsentationsprobleme der NGOs aufgrund eines ausgeprägten Nord-Süd-Gefälles der Partizipation (Brühl 2010: 181; Bexell/Tallberg/Uhlin 2010: 87) oder Handlungsdilemmata und Zielkonflikte (Bonacker/Schüssler 2008: 45) werden in dieser Hinsicht thema-1. 1 Ich bedanke mich für die anregende und hilfreiche Diskussion einer frühen Fassung dieses Artikels bei Tanja Brühl, Katja Freistein, Marika Gereke, Matthias Hofferberth, Elvira Rosert und Reinhard Wolf. Die drei anonymen GutacherInnen haben darüber hinaus durch ihre geduldig vorgebrachte und konstruktive Kritik dazu beigetragen, diesen Artikel auf das Wesentliche zu fokussieren.

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2008

When the United Nations (UN) World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) took place in Geneva ... more When the United Nations (UN) World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) took place in Geneva in 2003, its innovative multi-stakeholder design was widely praised. The inclusion of non-state actors developed into one of the defining and legitimizing goals of the summit. The WSIS ought to be ‘the scene of a new world dialogue, a new form of international communication based on the values of responsiveness, exchange, solidarity and sharing’.1 The WSIS symbol is a flower, whose four petals around the dot on the ‘i’ represent governments, international organizations, businesses and civil society organizations (CSOs), which all contribute to the common vision of an ‘Information Society for All’.2 CSOs,3 as well as other observers, actively participated during the whole preparatory process, as well as at the summit, by contributing to the drafting process of the policy documents. Indeed, when it became apparent that the summit would not be a success with regard to substance, the WSIS strived more forcefully to promote the announced multi-stakeholder approach. The participation of civil society actors aimed to allocate legitimacy to the policy output.

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 2014

Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 2024

Die Friedens-Warte, 2021

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2020

Frontiers, Oct 15, 2021

Journal of International Organizations Studies, 2018

Global Society, 2019

Friedens-Warte. Journal of Peace and Organization, 2019

Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen

Now also availabe as paperback (to be published Nov 28, 2014). This book explores the limits o... more Now also availabe as paperback (to be published Nov 28, 2014).

Deutschland im UN-Sicherheitsrat. Eine Halbzeitbilanz, PRIF Report 6/2019, hg. von Ben Christian und Melanie Coni-Zimmer, 2019

Zeitschrift für internationale Beziehungen, 2012

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2008

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 2014

Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance, 2008

Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 2016

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held by the United Nations in 2003 to draf... more The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held by the United Nations in 2003 to draft a programmatic declaration for the information age. The involvement of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the drafting process was innovative and led to WSIS becoming an especially instructive case in order to assess the potential of civil society participation in global governance. The author analyses the preconditions that were provided for CSOs to participate within this policy process and how it influenced the policy output. The all-encompassing rhetoric of the multi-stakeholder approach at WSIS and its good performance with regard to conceding access, transparency and inclusion to non-state actors suggest that the summit would be responsive to arguments from civil society and therefore a likely case for a deliberative policy process. However, the impact of CSOs on the policy documents has only been marginal. Despite favourable conditions for CSO participation, WSIS was not as responsive towards civil society arguments as could have been expected. A content analysis of policy documents and civil society statements with regard to three selected issue areas -Internet governance, intellectual property rights and communication rights -reveals that CSOs were, in many cases, not able to influence the outcome. Their argumentative input only led to minor changes in the policy documents. The case of the World Summit on the Information Society indicates that favourable conditions for CSO participation alone do not necessarily provide a solution for the democratic deficit in global governance.

Neue Politische Literatur

2021 und 2022 wurden vor dem Oberlandesgericht Koblenz syrische Kriegsverbrecher verurteilt. Das ... more 2021 und 2022 wurden vor dem Oberlandesgericht Koblenz syrische Kriegsverbrecher verurteilt. Das Verfahren ist außergewöhnlich, nicht nur, weil erstmals syrische Kriegsverbrecher zu teils langen Haftstrafen verurteilt wurden-und dann auch noch in einem Drittstaat. Es zeigt darüber hinaus die besondere Rolle, die Nichtregierungsorganisationen (Non-Governmental Organisations-NGOs) bei solchen Verfahren spielen können. Denn die Kriegsverbrechen und die dafür Verantwortlichen wurden "[t]hanks to NGO's investigative work" vor das Gericht gebracht und verurteilt (S. 63). Das ist kein Einzelfall, wie Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni und J.C. Sharman in ihrer Monografie "Vigilantes Beyond Borders" schreiben. Weltweit sammeln NGOs Beweismaterial, bereiten es für Gerichtsprozesse auf, bringen Kriegsverbrechen vor Gericht und tragen zur Verurteilung von Verantwortlichen bei. Das verweist auf ein nicht ganz neues, aber lange übersehenes und an Bedeutung gewinnendes Phänomen: vigilante law enforcement. So bezeichnen Eilstrup-Sangiovanni und Sharman die unabhängige, direkte Beteiligung von NGOs an der Durchsetzung von internationalem Recht und erklären: "NGOs are increasingly taking justice into their own hands" (S. 2). Ist das wirklich neu und wenn ja, wie konnte die NGO-Forschung ein solch wichtiges Feld internationaler NGO-Arbeit übersehen? Viel wurde insbesondere seit den 1990er Jahren über Ziele, Mittel, Strategien und Erfolge internationaler NGOs geschrieben. Zuletzt wurde die Auseinandersetzung mit NGOs kritischer, aber auch differenzierter. Entsprechend wenden Eilstrup-Sangiovanni und Sharman viel Raum und Energie auf, um zunächst zu erklären, dass sie tatsächlich einem neuen Phänomen auf der Spur sind. Die Rolle von NGOs als unabhängige, oftmals gegen Staaten oder Unternehmen gerichtete Durchsetzer internationalen Rechts sei bislang

Global Society, 2019

Due to the recent high influx of refugees, migration has become one of the most politicised issue... more Due to the recent high influx of refugees, migration has become one of the most politicised issues within the European Union (EU). To explore the political agency of humanitarian NGOs, this article analyses the behaviour of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) during the peak of the influx from April 2015 to June 2016. Outrage about the EU's response to the refugee crisis triggered confrontational and politicised strategies from MSF that aimed to enhance contestation and mobilise public opinion. The proximity of the crisis and the organisation's independence and decentralised structure facilitated this political agency. Furthermore, neither MSF's strong commitment to the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, nor its cooperative ties to national and international political elites, hindered its political actions in this situation. This article therefore refutes the common perspective that humanitarian NGOs are generally cooperative and, ultimately, depoliticising agents in global governance. Under certain conditions, humanitarian NGOs can decide to become highly political and confrontational in opposing national and EU policies.

Myth and Narrative in International Politics, 2016

Dany and Freistein challenge the idea of civil society participation as a natural part of global ... more Dany and Freistein challenge the idea of civil society participation as a natural part of global governance. Pointing to the crucial role of political myths that make politics pervasive and even appealing to a broad public, the chapter shows how civil society participation has been politically legitimised. A narratological analysis of pertinent documents issued by global governance fora serves to reconstruct the mythical elements of these narrations, such as the role of protagonists and the historicity of civil society participation. The social function of these mythical narratives, Dany and Freistein argue, is to render global governance, as an inherently political project, acceptable and desirable through its constant retelling as myth.

Neue Politische Literatur, 2016

Peace and the Pandemic. International Perspectives on Social Polarization and Cohesion in Times of COVID-19, 2021

This contribution discusses whether humanitarian aid is a suitable tool for expressing global sol... more This contribution discusses whether humanitarian aid is a suitable tool for expressing global solidarity during COVID-19, using the example of current developments in the context of migration and refugees in the EU.

Peace Perspectives No. 1, 2021

As if under a magnifying glass, the COVID-19 pandemic renders global inequalities, as well as con... more As if under a magnifying glass, the COVID-19 pandemic renders global inequalities, as well as conflicts within societies, more visible. It is particularly the marginalized, weak and vulnerable groups in societies—as well as poorer countries in general—that most bear the burden of the pandemic. Therefore, more often than not societies become more polarized in this situation. At the same time, the crisis might create increased attention and, therefore, opportunities for more solidarity and social cohesion. This first edition of PEACE PERSPECTIVES takes this observation as a starting point to look at the consequences of the
Coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of Peace and Conflict studies. It gives a broad survey of how the pandemic is affecting social polarization and cohesion.

Against a background of a generally perceived trend towards the politicization of humanitarian ai... more Against a background of a generally perceived trend towards the politicization of humanitarian aid, this paper reviews recent policies by the European Commission as one of the biggest donors of humanitarian aid worldwide. It aims to show how the European Union’s (EU’s) Comprehensive Approach and the Resilience Strategy, in particular, contribute to the politicization of humanitarian aid. The paper contributes a new perspective on the politicization of humanitarian aid with a focus on contestation about fundamental humanitarian principles - neutrality, impartiality and independence - in policy-making. It therewith challenges the common wisdom that the EU’s humanitarian aid is void of any political or security interest. Contestation between different stakeholders reveals that humanitarian aid is being politicized, despite the EU’s strong commitment to humanitarian principles, as its policies blur the lines between humanitarian aid, security and development cooperation. The paper also highlights the role of non-governmental organizations in challenging and influencing this particular part of EU foreign policy.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2007

This paper gives way to a more sceptical assessment of the multi-stakeholder process of the UN Wo... more This paper gives way to a more sceptical assessment of the multi-stakeholder process of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (2003-2005) and the Working Group on Internet Governance (2004-2005). It questions the mostly positive outlook on the effects of the institutionalization of NGO participation and their ability to exert influence within the international negotiations. I argue that institutionalization had suboptimal effects and constrained the possibilities for NGOs to actively participate in the negotiations in the following ways: assigning them adversarial positions in comparison to state actors; shaping their identities; sacrificing external transparency; and failing to formalize the observers’ participation rights. Finally I argue that these observations show structural power at work in the analyzed governance processes. Hence, a structural power concept, as compared to prevalent agency-centred power concepts, can capture the ambiguous effects of the institutionalization of NGO participation.

Rezension von Heins, Volker M./Koddenbrock, Kai/Unrau, Christine (Hrsg.): Humanitarianism and Cha... more Rezension von Heins, Volker M./Koddenbrock, Kai/Unrau, Christine (Hrsg.): Humanitarianism and Challenges of Cooperation, London/New York: Routledge (230 S.)