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Abstract
The literature on transnational advocacy networks (TANs) suggests that they may be a valid option for activists in India, Brazil and South Africa (the members of the IBSA bloc) to coordinate efforts to influence their states’ foreign policy. Since its formation the IBSA bloc has formalised spaces for networking among governmental officials, business interests and academics. Yet there are no examples of TANs whose activism has occurred across IBSA, with the purpose of influencing the bloc’s policies. This case study of the challenges that Brazilian advocacy groups face in forging TANs with like-minded groups across IBSA sheds light on the challenges confronting activists and suggests ways of overcoming them.
Notes
1. Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders, 2.
2. For instance, TANs have influenced Brazil’s position on climate change negotiations and affected India’s decision to sign the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) in 1993 and to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in that same year. Carvalho, “The Brazilian Position”; and Shah, “Rights under Fire”. They have continued to attempt to influence India’s position on nuclear non-proliferation initiatives. Tovish, “India and the NPT.” Finally, TANs have influenced South Africa’s and Brazil’s positions on the 1995 Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Wogart et al., “AIDS.”
3. Tandon and Bandyopadhyay, Civil Society, 10, observe that civil society’s omission has been continuous and conspicuous, despite myriad issues of interest to it on the BRICS (IBSA plus Russia and China) agenda.
4. Kornegay and Bohler-Muller, Laying the BRICS of a New Global Order; and Stuenkel, The Rise of the Global South.
5. Under the auspices of Oxfam’s programme, the ‘Empowering Civil Society Organization Networks in an Unequal Multi-polar World’ (ECSN), close to 400 representatives of civil society organisations from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa came together at an event parallel to the 2015 BRICS summit in Moscow. There is evidence that some common advocacy initiatives may have emerged from this opportunity, as announced by Oxfam’s Civil Society Network site on October 13, 2015 under the title “Civil Society Networks at BRICS 2015.” Accessed January 5, 2016. http://csnbricsam.org/civil-society-at-brics-2015/.
6. Putnam, “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics”; Rosenau, Linkage Politics; Evans et al., Double-edged Diplomacy; and Tarrow, “Transnational Political Contention.”
7. Park et al., “Democratization and Foreign Policy Change”; Nel and Van der Westhuizen, Democratizing Foreign Policy?; and Milani and Pinheiro, “A Politica Externa Brasileira.”
8. Risse-Kappen, “Public Opinion, Domestic Structure, and Foreign Policy”; Mesquita, “Sociedade Civil e Politica Externa Brasileira”; and Milani and Pinheiro, “A Politica Externa Brasileira.”
9. Pollard, Globalization, Democratization and Asian Leadership; Della Porta and Tarrow, Transnational Protest and Global Activism; and Price, “Civil Society.”
10. Souza, “A Agenda Internacional do Brasil: Um estudo sobre a comunidade brasileira de política externa”; and Santoro, “Democracia e Politica Externa no Brasil.”
11. Skidmore and Hudson, The Limits of State Autonomy; and Hagan, Political Opposition and Foreign Policy.
12. Zartner, Courts, Codes, and Custom.
13. Finnemore, National Interests in International Society; Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics; and Risse et al., The Power of Human Rights.
14. Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders; Khagram et al., Restructuring World Politics; and Santoro, “Democracia e Politica Externa no Brasil.”
15. Lechini, “Middle Powers,” 29.
16. Interviews were conducted with staff from two foundations, three advocacy organisations dealing with human rights – one of them the Brazilian chapter of a global NGO – two organisations dealing with equity in access to resources, and three organisations dealing with socio-environmental rights, as well as with two representatives of the Brazilian diplomatic corps. Given the sensitive nature of the issues discussed here, I elected to maintain the anonymity of interviewees.
17. Tarrow, “Transnational Political Contention”; Sikkink, “Patterns of Dynamic Multilevel Governance”; and Cox et al., Civil Society Participation.
18. Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders; Hudson, “NGOs’ Transnational Advocacy Networks”; and Brown, Creating Credibility.
19. Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders, 12.
20. Risse and Ropp. “International Human Rights Norms,” 239.
21. Batliwala, “Grassroots Movements”; and Della Porta et al., Globalization from Below.
22. Desmarais, La Vía Campesina.
23. For instance, Sundaram, Reforming the International Financial System for Development, discusses how communication technologies, economic globalisation and the growing power of transnational corporations has trumped the regulatory framework of state-based multilateral institutions with dire effects for the developing world. Newman et al., Multilateralism under Challenge? reflect on these institutions’ inadequacy in representing the world’s current power distribution, while Gardiner, “The Decline and Fall of the United Nations” and Helleiner, “A Bretton Woods Moment?” assess the impact of US hegemony on the UN’s declining operational capacity.
24. Foundation Staff 1, Rio de Janerio, July 7, 2014. This was also discussed in similar terms by Environmental Activist 2, Brasilia, July 23, 2014; and Resources Rights Activists 1 and 2, both Rio de Janeiro, July 11, 2014.
25. For details, see Rodrigues, Global Environmentalism and Local Politics.
26. Such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity from 1992, and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.
27. According to Bueno, “Os tres pilares institucionais do Forum de Dialogo India–Brasil–Africa do Sul,” 12, the IBSA Fund works closely with the working group on social development to identify initiatives to be funded.
28. Rajiv Bhatia, “BRICS set to outshine IBSA?”, The Hindu, May 2, 2011 and available on its website http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/brics-set-to-outshine-ibsa/article1978593.ece and http://thediplomat.com/2012/08/keep-the-brics-and-ibsa-seperate/; and Oliver Stuenkel, “Keep BRICS and IBSA Separate,” The Diplomat 2012, available on the Journal’s website as of November 19, 2014.
29. Interviews with Human Rights Activist 1, July 21, 2014; and Human Rights Activist 2, Rio de Janeiro, July 22, 2014.
30. Interview with Human Rights Activist 1, Rio de Janeiro, July 21, 2014.
31. Ana Garcia, “Construindo os BRICS pelas Bases?” Rosa Luxemburgo Foundation, July 2014, article published on August 1, 2014 in http://www.pacs.org.br/2014/08/01/construindo-os-brics-pelas-bases-confira-o-artigo-de-ana-garcia-sobre-a-vi-cupula-dos-brics/
32. Foundation Staff 1, paraphrasing comments in a meeting of Latin American NGOs in Bolivia that discussed China’s and Brazil’s development funds, Rio de Janeiro, July 7, 2014.
33. Fatima Mello, “Um BRICS para os Povos,” brasilnomundo, November 14, 2014. See also the letter dated July 15, 2013 from the Group of Reflections on International Relations (GT-IR) to Minister Patriota at http://grabois.org.br/portal/noticia.php?id_sessao=7&id_noticia=11703.
34. Lerche, “Transnational Advocacy Networks”; and Clark, “Transnational and Regional Advocacy Networks.”
35. Clark, “The Antarctic Environmental Protocol”; Lanchbery, “The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species”; and Landman, Protecting Human Rights.
36. Interview with representative of Brazil’s diplomatic corps, Brasilia, July 23, 2014.
37. Human Rights Activist 1, Rio de Janeiro, July 21, 2014, also discussed in similar terms by Human Rights Activist 2, Rio de Janeiro, July 22, 2014.
38. Human Rights Activist 1.
39. “Ideologia atrapalha política externa do Brasil” [Ideology disrupts Brazil’s Foreign Policy], O Globo, November 20, 2014; and Demetrio Magnoli, “O Brics na imaginação ideological – A miragem ‘anti-imperialista’ desorienta há uma década a política externa brasileira,” [BRICS in the ideological imagination – ‘anti-imperialist’ mirage has disoriented Brazilian foreign policy for a decade], O Globo, November 20, 2014.
40. Clark, “Transnational and Regional Advocacy Networks”; and Lerche, “Transnational Advocacy Networks.”
41. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse; Jordan and Van Tuijl, “Political Responsibility”; and Bratton and Hinz, “Ethical Responses to Commercial Fisheries Decline.”
42. Interviews with Human Rights Activist 3, Rio de Janeiro, July 11, 2014; Resources Rights Activist 1, Rio de Janerio, July 11, 2014; and Environmental Activist 2, Brasilia, July 23, 2014.
43. Human Rights Activist 1.
44. In the words of Environmental Activist 3, ‘it is very difficult to create a structure to catalyse [concern]…Everybody wants to be engaged, but there is no common thread […] what is it that we really have in common?’ Rio de Janeiro, July 16, 2014.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.; also echoed by Resources Rights Activists 1 and 2, Rio de Janeiro, July 11, 2014.
47. Resources Rights Activists 1 and 2.
48. For more information on this effort, see Malerba, Diferentes Formas de Dizer Nao; and a January 5, 2010 report by MiningWatch Canada, Focus on Mining Giant Vale at World Social Forum, Accessed January 5, 2016. http://www.miningwatch.ca/focus-mining-giant-vale-world-social-forum.
49. Clark, “The Antarctic Environmental Protocol”; Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders; Wong, Internal Affairs; and Andia, “Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Rights Protection.”
50. Princen and Finger, Environmental NGOs and World Politics; and Keck and Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders.
51. Rodrigues, Global Environmentalism and Local Politics; Farrell and McDermott, “Claiming Afghan Women”; Bob, The Marketing of Rebellion; and Hertel, Unexpected Power.
52. For instance, the leadership of Médecins Sans Frontières was instrumental in the success of the access to treatment campaign in South Africa and Brazil; Oxfam and Greenpeace have led pressure to restrict the use of genetically modified food in India and for mandatory labelling of such products in Brazil and South Africa; global environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Environmental Defense have supported advocacy for the reduction of carbon emissions and against deforestation in Brazil and India.
53. Human Rights activist 1. Goswami et al., Civil Society in Changing India, discuss the same challenge as it applies to India’s civil society organisations.
54. Activists have mentioned specifically FASE, IBASE and INESC, which have historically been among the most relevant advocacy organisations and independent research institutes in Brazil.
55. In the words of Resources Rights Activist 1, ‘Anybody can obtain information through Facebook, or come here and talk directly to people on the ground’.
56. Although the quote is from one interviewee (Foundation Staff 1), it reflects the view of the majority of interviewees.
57. See, for instance, Branczik, “Humanitarian Aid and Development Assistance,” on the importance of INGO neutrality.
58. Foundation Staff 1.
59. Environmental Activist 1.
60. Human Rights Activist 1; Human Rights activist 3; and Environmental Activist 1.
61. Human Rights Activist 2.
62. Environmental Activist 1.
63. See, for instance, the International Seminar on South–South Cooperation, 26–27 August, 2014, in New Delhi; and the BRICS Bank – International Seminar held on July 16–17, 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. Russian civil society representatives have been notably absent from these opportunities and Chinese representation is usually restricted to academia.
64. ‘BRICS-from-below’ meeting parallel to the 2013 BRICS Summit in South Africa.
65. Dagnino, “¿Sociedade civil, participação e cidadania”.
66. Resources Rights Activist 2; and Human Rights Activist 2.
67. See “BRICS e a Acao Sindical,” Nota Tecnica no. 128, Departmento Intersindical de Estatistica e Estudos Socioeconomicos (DIEESE), accessed October 14, 2015, www.dieese.org.br/.
68. Human Rights Activists 1 and 2 and Goswami et al., Civil Society in Changing India discuss the same phenomenon as it has affected Indian civil society organisations.
69. For instance, the rise of renowned Brazilian environmental activists to official positions in the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment was a key element in the success of an environmental TAN that influenced Brazil’s position in climate change negotiations. Environmental Activists 1 and 2.
70. Environmental Activist 3; and Human Rights Activist 1.