The Authority Trap: Strategic Choices of International NGOs by Sarah S. Stroup & Wendy H. Wong

Author:Sarah S. Stroup & Wendy H. Wong [Stroup, Sarah S. & Wong, Wendy H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: International Relations, Social Science, Political Science, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781501712418
Google: D0o4DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2017-09-15T06:31:50+00:00

The process of decision making at the TSC can often be frustrating, as deliberation within working groups and participation more generally are both time-consuming (Interview 1012, 1059).

Even more troubling, the input of some NGOs and more progressive corporations has been sidelined. For example, WWF was excluded from a TSC working group in May 2011 because of its stated support of rigorous certification by the Forest Stewardship Council.17 The Forest Stewardship Council itself participated in some early working groups of TSC but has since walked, as have more progressive corporations such as Seventh Generation. WWF has given up its board seat and is less involved in TSC today (Interview 1048). The structure of TSC privileges the staff at the supporting academic institutions and the corporate members driving TSC. According to one NGO member, the reliance on corporate members for support can create unequal dynamics (Interview 1060). Given the dues structure of TSC, corporations foot the bill of operations, and there is a tension in managing disagreements over methodologies and evaluative mechanisms on which INGOs and corporate views may diverge. INGOs that continue to participate recognize this problem:

There [are] a lot more corporate voices and industry voices than there are NGO voices. So most of the time . . . [NGOs ensure that the discussion] still gets on the right hot spot and we’re sending the right signals and it doesn’t get watered down to the lowest common denominator of what’s acceptable by the industry. (Interview 1057)

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