Ayşem Mert – författare

With a combination of post-structuralist discourse theory and interpretative methods such as historical discourse analysis and ecocriticism not previously used in studies on partnership, Aysem Mert examines three discourses that have been rooted into the logic of partnerships: privatization of governance, sustainable development and democratic participation. Ultimately, Mert argues that these discourses help understand both the potential and structural limitations of sustainability partnerships.

This revolutionary book will be useful to researchers of environmental governance, transnational and global studies, looking for an empirical and analytical interpretation of the topic. Political theorists and philosophers, as well as discourse analysts, will also find the theoretical and methodological perspectives to be of interest.

The extensive research builds on an exclusive Global Sustainability Partnerships Database and a series of in-depth qualitative case studies. Key questions studied in this book include the overall effectiveness and influence of partnerships, their geographical, functional and organizational scope, and their legitimacy.

This unique book systematically investigates the questions of emergence, influence and legitimacy, which will prove invaluable for scholars and students interested in global environmental governance and sustainability, public-private partnerships, sustainability at the UN level and environmental governance beyond international agreements and policies.

Contributors: K. Backstrand, F. Biermann, S. Chan, D. Compagnon, E. Dellas, A. Mert, C. Muller, P. Pattberg, K. Szulecki

This handbook offers a unique approach to the question: How do scholars write the future of global politics? Written in futur antérieur style, around the 200-year anniversary of the birth of International Relations (IR) as an academic discipline, the contributions engage in world-building and imagine different futures of IR. Set in a multiverse, 23 chapters draw on a range of possible themes and imaginaries, for instance post-pandemic conditions, the Anthropocene, and not least academic practices and the role of researchers. A concluding chapter anchors these explorations in contemporary discussions.

The book mirrors the format and style of existing handbooks, combining outlines and discussions of theories, structures, processes, and core issues in IR with an academic science fiction account of how these might play out over the course of the next century. In doing so, the book challenges IR and provides alternative imaginaries, rather than predicting future conditions for all humanity. The book invites readers to reflect on how thinking about the future has become an increasingly radical, but more than ever necessary act.