Global Governance, Law and Social Thought
A new effort to improve our understanding of the world system, the nature of power, conflict and security, the roots and remedies for inequality, will be most productive when it develops alternative ideas about global governance, law and society which can suggest new solutions, new modes of engagement, and new sites for productive efforts to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
At present, the structures through which public as well as private capacity is organized and limited on the global scale are today very poorly understood. At the same time, the predominant intellectual frameworks through which we have considered international regulatory and institutional capacity for more than a generation are breaking down. They no longer point us reliably to the most important sites for decision making or the most important levers for affecting change. Although different disciplines in the social sciences and humanities have attempted to grapple with specific aspects of global governance, we are convinced that far more could be done at an interdisciplinary level than can be achieved by each discipline alone. Moreover, confronting the challenges of global governance will require not only interdisciplinary research but also collaboration between North and South, among diverse academic institutions, and between academics and policymakers. Accordingly, the global governance initiative at Brown has sought to develop a research and teaching program that catalyzes and shapes critical discussions on global governance that are interdisciplinary and global.
With this in mind, we began planning and consultations about the potential for building a global governance initiative in spring 2008 building upon the excellent work already occurring in global governance and law at the Watson Institute and elsewhere at Brown. In addition to classes in this field, an annual conference, ongoing speaker series and a research paper series have been established. The global governance initiative is co-directed by Nathaniel Berman and Vasuki Nesiah.
People
Vasuki Nesiah, Director of International Affairs, Lecturer, Watson Institute
Nathaniel Berman, Rahel Varnhagen Professor of International Affairs, Law, and Modern Culture (Research), Watson Institute
Zinaida Miller, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute
Z. Umet Turem, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute
Arnulf Becker Lorca, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute
Saptarishi Bandopadhyay, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute
Ignacio De La Rasilla del Moral, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute
Gregory Krauss, Visiting Fellow, Watson Institute