1) Bibliographic data
Rohrschneider, R. and Dalton, R., (2002), “A Global Network? Transnational
Cooperation among Environmental Groups,” The Journal of Politics,
V64-2: 510-533.
2) Question(s) addressed by the author and working arguments
To provide the degree in which Environmental NGOs (ENGOs) actually engage
in transnational cooperation. The internationalization of environmentalism
is exemplified by the creation of numerous elite networks, the formation
of international ENGOs, and the proliferation of international environmental
treaties.
Transnational networks supposedly create new political opportunities
for social movements to challenge the political status and its representatives.
Globalization is a theoretical concept, more than a testable model.
At the international level, a growing number of international NGOs have
formed in recent decades to lobby international policy makers, ranging
from the European Union to the United Nations. Many groups in the developing
world are resource poor, and international travel and international networking
can be expensive. Even if ENGOs are engaged in transnational networks,
there are different types of activity within these networks.
Globalization thesis: Growing transnational cooperation is due to the
increasing importance of international environmental problems. From this
perspective, attention to international and global environmental issues
should be the major driving force behind the development of transnational
cooperation. Social conditions that facilitate and empower citizen groups,
such as affluence and educational levels, should also stimulate transnational
cooperation.
Group characteristics thesis: Large groups with substantial resources
are better able to pursue a variety of national lobbying activities.
Similarly, the ideology of an environmental groups shapes its patterns
of national political activity and may also influence international activity.
The globalization thesis predicts that growing concern for international
environmental problems stimulates participation in transnational networks.
Social movement research also maintains that groups of identities and
ideology are important in structuring the behavior of social movement
organizations.
The globalization thesis links national characteristics to participation
in transnational networks. The level of international action supports
the globalization thesis, as does the importance of issue focus. The
globalization theory does not give sufficient consideration to the inequalities
of action that exists with the international environmental network and
the implications of these inequalities.
3) Conceptual references to transnational-transnationalism
transnational cooperation and transnational networks.
4) Conclusions or Final Remarks
International cooperation among environmental groups benefits the movement,
especially in the developing world where resources and expertise are
limited.
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