Building Transnational Networks
Civil Society and the Politics of Trade in the Americas

Shows how a broad group of civil society organizations came together to contest free trade negotiations in the Americas.

Marisa von Bülow (Author)

9780521191562, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 September 2010

280 pages, 18 b/w illus. 7 tables
23.5 x 16 x 2.2 cm, 0.52 kg

'Marisa von Bülow has written the ideal successor to Keck and Sikkink's foundational Activists Beyond Borders. She starts from the idea of 'transnational networks' but lodges these networks in their national settings in four countries in the Americas engaged in trade politics, and she carries out a masterful comparison of how their domestic structures condition their effectiveness and their durability. Latin Americanists, comparativists, and students of transnational politics will all want to read this book.' Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University

Building Transnational Networks tells the story of how a broad group of civil society organizations came together to contest free trade negotiations in the Americas. Based on research in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the United States, and Canada, it offers a full hemispheric analysis of the creation of civil society networks as they engaged in the politics of trade. The author demonstrates that most effective transnational actors are the ones with strong domestic roots and that 'southern' organizations occupy key nodes in trade networks. The fragility of activist networks stems from changes in the domestic political context as well as from characteristics of the organizations, the networks, or the actions they undertake. These findings advance and suggest new understandings of transnational collective action.

Part I. Civil Society Organizations and their Pathways to Transnationality: 1. Introduction
2. Multiple pathways to transnationality
Part II. The Politicization of Trade: 3. The contentious nature of trade debates
4. New regionalism in the Americas
Part III. The Dynamics of Networks: 5. Trade protest networks
6. The origins and dynamics of trade challengers' networks
Part IV. Organizational Pathways to Transnationality: 7. The creation and demise of transnational coalitions
8. Diffusion and differentiation of national coalitions
Part V. The Search for Ideational Pathways: 9. Alternatives for the Americas
10. Transnational collective action in dynamic political contexts
11. Conclusions: agency, networks, and collective action
Appendix A: lists of interviews
Appendix B: social network questionnaire (United States).

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP]