Page 78 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

64 Politics in a Small World

activities within states in ways that impinge on modern notions of state
sovereignty. As James Rosenau describes it, global governance consists of
“ governance without government – of regulatory mechanisms in a sphere
of activity which function effectively even though they are not endowed
with formal authority ” (quoted in McGrew, 1997 : 15).
Widespread networks of Inter - Governmental Organizations that deal
with a vast array of transnational issues are at the core of global gover-
nance. Some are global, most notably the United Nations system (UN),
including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Others are regional, including the European Union (EU) and the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Some are selective along lines
of wealth and military capacity, for example, the G8 (which includes
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and Russia), and
the North American Treaty Organization (NATO, an alliance of 28 coun-
tries in North America and Europe). Some are selective on other bases;
the Commonwealth, for example, includes 53 states from all parts of the
world that were originally part of the British Empire.
At the same time, alongside IGOs, in almost every sphere of activity,
there are a growing number of Non - Governmental Organizations which
are actively engaged in trying to influence states from below and above.

NGOs and INGOs are legal entities, formally independent of states, and
non - profi t - making. The increase in the numbers of INGOs alone is
astounding. Around one - quarter of the 13,000 now in existence were
founded after 1990 (Anheier, Glasius, and Kaldor, 2004 : 4). In addition,
there are tens of thousands of NGOs that, besides working within national
territories, are also oriented towards IGOs and to addressing states other
than those in which they are set up. INGOs include social movement
organizations like Greenpeace, but also large, charitable operations like
Oxfam and scientific and professional bodies like the International

Association of Nutritional Sciences and the International Sociological
Association (McGrew, 1995 : 35). All these organizations, of necessity,
tend to engage in forms of “ soft ” power, depending on publicity, knowl-
edge, and communication.
In contemporary society, what we will continue to call “ the state ” for
the sake of convenience is currently undergoing transformation in global
governance. It is not that states are undermined by globalization, as if it
came from outside. On the contrary, the way in which states are them-
selves involved in global projects is one of the most important and dynamic
aspects of globalization itself. By comparison with the sovereign nation -
state, the internationalizing state is becoming disaggregated as it is re -
structured within and across territorial borders. It is better, then, to think