Mirror, Mirror On the Wall

Self-Legitimation by International Organizations

Bibliographic Data

ID6272913
AuthorsSarah Von Billerbeck (0000-0003-0154-1944, University of Reading, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume64
Issue1
Pages207-219
Publication date2020-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-8833 • E-ISSN: 1468-2478
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/isq/sqz089
OpenAlexW2992522033
LanguageEN
Citations received52
References cited53

Most analyses of legitimacy and legitimation in international organizations (IOs) focus on the perceptions of external audiences. In so doing, they fail to consider self-legitimation, where an IO undertakes legitimation internally, as a way of developing and reinforcing its identity. Moreover, most studies of IO legitimacy neglect the fact that IO identities are rarely uniform and instead are multiple and conflicting. I address these omissions by examining self-legitimation in three IOs—the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the World Bank. These organizations are both operational and normative actors, and both institutions dependent on member states and autonomous bodies with independent expertise and capacities. These identities sometimes dictate contradictory goals and practices, forcing the organizations to violate the principles and activities considered appropriate to one of their identities, thus complicating legitimation. Based on extensive fieldwork and drawing on a range of disciplines, this article proposes a novel theory of IO self-legitimation: I argue that the need for self-legitimation depends on the degree of identity cohesion and identity hierarchy of the organization. I identify two temporal dimensions of self-legitimation, three categories of self-legitimation practices, and three broader repercussions of self-legitimation, ultimately showing that self-legitimation is a necessary and constitutive activity for IOs

Aesthetics · Cohesion (chemistry · Identity (music · Legitimacy · Legitimation · Normative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

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