Diplomatic negotiation in an international organisation: an exploration of expert status and power
This paper will explore the status and characteristics of ‘expert’ membership within an international organisation and its influence on the development of ‘exosomatic resources’. Invoking the framework of the ‘Community of Practice’ (Wenger, 1998), it is argued that status and power are realised in the development and interpretation of policy and conventions within the organisation, through the ‘negotiation of meaning’ and through the ‘politics of participation and reification’. Negotiations and decisions may take place over a period of time but are also situated within plenary debates. As such it is argued that power and hierarchy are not fixed structures but are emergent and fluid discursively over time and space. The paper defines the characteristics of ‘expert’ membership encompassing a consideration of the command of participatory and interactional norms, as well as knowledge of the status and content of reified products. To illustrate these characteristics a critical analysis of the discourse of one delegate is provided. This exemplifies how expert knowledge is applied within a debate to influence and inform the development and interpretation of texts and subsequently to contribute to the (re)production of shared meaning and agreement on issues under debate. It is argued that in considering both the forms of asymmetry in organisations and the practice of decision-making, research should focus on: the type of knowledge that is required and valued in any context; how this knowledge is accessed, enacted and exploited; and which members are instrumental in its construction, representation and reproduction.
un Mediators’ Collaboration with Scholars and Expert ngos: Explaining the Need for Knowledge-Based Communities in Today’s Conflicts
UN mediators work more and more closely with academics and expertise-based non-governmental organizations, in particular through the Mediation Support Unit. The Organization appears to genuinely rely on them to conduct mediation and to strengthen its capacity in the area, to the point where it is sometimes difficult to operate a clear distinction between the two types of actors. This article analyzes why the practice of mediation today creates a demand for such expertise-focused cooperation. Beyond the need for flexibility and additional resources, the explanation lies in the prevailing feeling of uncertainty caused by today’s internal conflicts, for which the traditional state-centric lens is becoming irrelevant. In this context, the UN relies on knowledge produced by an epistemic community of peace and conflict scholars, and is embedded in a network of nongovernmental mediators with which it exchanges know-how, following the logic of communities of practice.
What's going on here.
The division chairmen (Robert B. Leighton, Ray Owen, Barclay Kamb, John D. Roberts, Francis Clauser, Robert A. Huttenback) report on recent research and developments in Caltech's six academic divisions