Actors and Entanglements in Global Governance: The ILO in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This dissertation critically interrogates existing theories of global governance. It argues that they have tended to occlude much of the messiness, complexity, and forms of agency involved in the practice of global governance by focusing on delineating the sources of authority of ‘global governors’ or critiquing regulatory frameworks. Critical approaches linking global governance to broader structural power relationships are valuable, but by attributing the trajectories of governance to the workings of ‘hegemony’ in global politics they similarly fail to account for the complexities and forms of contestation implicitly in the practice of governance. This thesis argues instead for an ‘actors and entanglements’ approach to global governance, focusing on the entwinement of governmental practices with multiple histories of struggle ‘on the ground’. This perspective is elaborating by drawing on governmentality theories, an alternative reading of Gramscian historicism, and reflections about spatiality in Actor-Network Theory. Empirically, the value of this approach is demonstrated by tracing the entanglements of ILO programming in sub-Saharan Africa related to forced labour and ‘development’ assistance in the areas of employment, social protection, and workers’ education. The thesis covers the full history of the ILO from 1919-present, although focusing primarily on developments after 1960. It draws on original archival and interview research conducted at ILO headquarters in Geneva, as well as field offices in Pretoria and Dakar, on a series of research trips between June and December 2014.