Drawing on recent work on ‘bricolage’ in global politics, this talk will focus on how international order is often constructed gradually rather than through ‘big bang’ founding moments. In an institutionally crowded world, institutional architects must often take existing institutions as they find them and redeploy them in new combinations. Rather than contradicting rational design, this means global institutional orders are born gradually and that institutional design often entails new combinations of pre-existing components as opposed to de novo ‘grand design’.

Speaker

Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni is Professor in International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. Her research focuses on the historical evolution, design and resilience of international institutions, and the role(s)—both historical and contemporary—of non-state actors in global governance. 

Discussant

Adam Talsma, PhD Candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

CHAIR

James Hollway, Director, Global Governance Centre