International Organisations Are People, Too

IOM's Role as Coordinator of the UN Migration Network and the Socialisation of International Organisations

Bibliographic Data

ID3948545
AuthorsStefan Rother (0000-0001-8520-3365, University of Freiburg, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume30
Issue4
Pages1553-1580
Publication date2025-08-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2025.2465665
OpenAlexW4407609772
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited50

In International Relations (IR) research on socialisation, International Organisations (IOs) have so far primarily been conceptualised as fora in which member states might be socialised. This paper argues that the process of socialisation can also take place at the systemic level of global migration and refugee governance. It takes as its case study the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which for a long time has operated outside the United Nations (UN) system but in 2016 became a ‘related agency’ and was selected as the coordinator and secretariat of the new UN Network on Migration.It is argued that IOs such as IOM can be socialised themselves through interaction with other IOs and stakeholders such as civil society as well as through the structure of the international system in which they operate and the role they play herein. This will be analysed in three temporal stages – pre-socialisation, the process of setting up the Network and the Network today. The analysis will include the relations to other stakeholders such as UNHCR and migrant civil society organisations as well as the self-perceptions of actors in the Network responsible for these relations. The analysis of the evolving role identities, norms and cultures of IOM in relation to the UN Network is based on extensive participant observation in online and in-person spaces, expert interviews, document and social media analysis

Business · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Development and Aid · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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