Global governance as patchwork: the making of the Sustainable Development Goals

Jean-Philippe Thérien and Vincent Pouliot

Review of International Political Economy, 2020, vol. 27, issue 3, 612-636

Abstract: This article develops an analytical framework geared at making sense of global governance as patchwork. Our three-step methodology operationalizes the concept of ‘bricolage’ by focusing on the political practices and the value struggles that underpin the making of global public policies. This framework throws light on the widespread contestation over the objectives and solutions that should be pursued globally, as well as on the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion that structure global governance. To demonstrate the relevance of our approach, we examine a key initiative drawn from contemporary IPE and development politics: the making of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Analyzing the making of the SDGs through our methodology sheds light on the bricolage of global public policies in three interconnected ways: (1) in showing the social mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion; (2) in documenting the variety of views involved and the prevalence of conflict; and (3) in identifying practical and normative alternatives that get discarded along the way. Overall, the proposed framework helps restore the contingency and idiosyncrasies of global policies, while also uncovering their common patterns.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2019.1671209

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