Symposium: Can Networks Govern?

[This is a post-publication review symposium] Theorising transnational governance is of central importance to understanding how the world works. The proliferation of frameworks, compacts, accords and agreements across multiple policy fields begs questions as to how they emerge, how power operates within and through them, what they foreclose and in whose interests they work. When applied to the legitimation of organised violence outside the state, they seem to challenge foundational aspects of global order.  In Deborah Avant’s article “Pragmatic Networks and Transnational Governance of Private Military and Security Services"she argues that an approach grounded in relational pragmatism can help us best make sense of these phenomena. This approach emphasises the power of networks, the re-shaping of actor preferences, creativity and openness and the significance of process in influencing outcomes. Avant concludes that rather than seeing global governance in terms of ‘wins’ and ‘losses’, emphasising its productive and creative character is a better way of understanding its potential.[...]