San Francisco, CA
Global Governance Part I: Measuring the State
Fri. Jun 3 ‐ 2:30pm ‐ 4:15pm
Session Participants:
Chair: Benedict Kingsbury (New York University), Kingsbur@exchange.law.nyu.edu
*Nehal Bhuta (New School): Measuring Stateness
*Christopher Bradley (University of Texas): Serious Scholarship, Serious Policymaking, and the Insecurity over Indicators
*Luciana G Cunha (Fundação Getulio Vargas)
*Luci Oliveira (Fundação Getulio Vargas): The Justice Confidence Index in Brazil: Why, How, and for Whom It Has Been Produced
*Rene Uruena (Universidad de Los Andes): Indicators as a Commodity: A Case Study on the Rule of Law Index
Abstract:
Global indicators are produced by organizations ranging from public actors such as the World Bank or the US State Department, to NGOs such as Freedom House, to hybrid entities such as the Global Fund, to private sector political risk rating agencies. They are used to compare and rank states for purposes as varied as deciding how to allocate foreign aid or investment and whether states have complied with their treaty obligations. The use of indicators influences not only the kinds of the authority commanded by global decision-makers, but al the most effective ways of contesting their decisions. This panel will consider production, use, and effects of four sets of indicators geared to measuring state behavior. First is a collection of three indexes– State Failure Index, Index of State Fragility and Instability, and the State Fragility Index– that seek to quantify state failure. The second is the Rule of Law index, which purports to measure states’ compliance with “the rule of law.” The third is the Freedom in the World indicator, which purports to measure the level of “freedom” in every country in the world. Lastly, the panel will discuss “confidence in justice” index designed to measure judicial performance.
Global Governance Part II: Global Indicators in Local Practices
Fri, Jun 3 ‐ 4:30pm ‐ 6:15pm
Session Participants:
Chair/Discussant: Sally Engle Merry (New York University)
*Migai Akech (Nairobi, Kenya) : Measuring (Perceptions of) Corruption: The Impact of Transparency International on Governance Discourse in Kenya
*Wendy Espeland (Northwestern University): Market Logic and Rankings
*Smoki Musaraj (The New School): Depoliticizing and Repoliticizing Development in Emerging Markets
*Galit Sarfaty (University of Pennsylvania): The Emergence of Data‐Driven International Law: A Case Study of Global Indicators for the Regulation of Corporate Sustainability
Abstract:
Indicators have real impact on national policies. Donor countries and aid agencies use these indicators in deciding how to distribute funds, civil society actors may use the indicators as advocacy tools. Promulgation of the indicator can also spur behavior by the governments through motivating demands for particular policies by affecting suppliers of third-party benefits, such as prospective foreign investors. For instance, the World Bank claims that it has prompted many countries to reform their legal systems simply by promulgating its country-level indicators on the ease of doing business, and the same view is held by many critics of the Bank. This panel will examine the impact of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception and Bribery Indexes on governance discourse in Kenya, development and reception of the Corruption Perception Surveys and political discourse in post-socialist Albania, the impact of corporate sustainability reporting under the Global Reporting Initiative on domestic governance regimes, and the role of labor indicators in global governance of labor markets.
Roundtable‐‐Indicators in Global Governance
Sat, Jun 4 ‐ 8:15am ‐ 10:00am
Session Participants:
Chair: Sally Engle Merry (New York University) sally.merry@nyu.edu
*Yamini Aiyar (Center for Policy Research) yaiyar@gmail.com
*Jane Anderson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) janea@anthro.umass.edu Participant:
*Angelina Fisher (New York University) angelina.fisher@nyu.edu
*Rene Gerrets (University van Amsterdam) r.p.m.gerrets@uva.nl
*Benedict Kingsbury (New York University) Kingsbur@exchange.law.nyu.edu
*Mihaela Serban (Ramapo College, New Jersey) mserban@ramapo.edu
Abstract:
The use of indicators is a prominent feature of contemporary global governance. Indicators are produced by organizations ranging from public actors such as the World Bank or the US State Department, to NGOs such as Freedom House, to hybrid entities such as the Global Fund, to private sector political risk rating agencies. They are used to compare and rank states for purposes as varied as deciding how to allocate foreign aid or investment and whether states have complied with their treaty obligations. The roundtable will discuss how indicators have recently been used in global governance and the various ways in which the use of indicators has the potential to alter the nature of global governance, with particular attention being paid to how reliance on indicators affects the authority and contestability of decisions. The discussion will draw on the perspectives from different national contexts.