On July 6-7, 2015, the IILJ at NYU School of Law convened a conference on indicators and the ecology of governance. The conference had three objectives: to take stock of and analyze key ideas from very recent work in the field; to bring together interested scholars and celebrate the launch of several recent books on indicators in global governance; and above all to explore promising directions in current and future research, with a particular focus on the dynamics or ecology of governance in which indicators are one of several competing technologies.
This conference built on research by NYU Law faculty on the general phenomenon of global governance as well as in fields such as trafficking, rule of law, and corruption. Much of this work takes place under the rubric of two ongoing projects of the Institute for International Law and Justice: Inter-Institutional Relations in Global Law and Governance and Indicators as a Technology of Global Governance.
Day 1
Panel 1: Indicators and the Ecology of Governance
Introductory Remarks by Benedict Kingsbury
Indicators and Power‐Knowledge Dynamics: Sally Engle Merry
The Ecology of Governance: Benedict Kingsbury and Kevin Davis
Transnational Legal Indicators and the Management of Legal Systems: David Restrepo Amariles
Indicators in the Open Method of Coordination of the European Union: Arnaud Van Waeyenberge Discussant: Chris Bradley
Panel 2: Indicators, Law and Governance
World Bank “Doing Business”: Melissa Johns
“Doing Business” and Administration of Justice in Colombia: Robinson Sanchez Tomay
Unveiling indicators: the Power of Governance Through the Rule of Law Notion: María Angélica Prada Uribe
Discussant: Jack Snyder
Panel 3: Measuring Development: MDGs and SDGs
The Power of Numbers: MDGs and SDGs: Sakiko Fukuda‐Parr
The Violence of Speed: Indicators, MDGs and Global Health: Sung‐Joon Park
Discussant: Pablo de Greiff
Panel 4: Measuring Human Rights: Opportunities and Challenges
Codifying Personal Integrity Rights: Law, Advocacy, and Standards‐Based Measures: Meg Satterthwaite
Indicators as Enforcement: Regulating the Corporate Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights through Reporting and Ranking: Erika George
Data Gaps and Displacement: Shaping the Narrative About Extractive Industries and Development: Nikki Reisch (not taped)
Discussants: Kishanthi Parella, Marta Infantino
Day 2
Panel 1: Politics of Indicators
The Politics of Indicators: Alex Cooley
Science, Data and Regulation of Tuna Fishing: Jen Telesca
Discussants: Martha Finnemore, Nikhil Dutta
UNAIDS: Contesting Crowded Spaces: Examining UNAIDS’ Use of Indicators as a Response to the AIDS Pandemic: Sharifah Rahma Sekalala
Discussant: Jane Anderson
Panel 2: Interaction between Global and Local
Measuring What Children Learn: OECD, US and India: Angelina Fisher
Discussant: Mihaela Serban
Between Universal Methodology and Local Adaptations toward Ecology: Human Rights Indicators in Ecuador 2009‐2014: Johannes Waldmuller
Discussant: Rene Urueña