The Research Scholars Network
In order to understand the implications of prominent global governance indicators for the dynamics of power relations, including their influence on behavior, discourse, and contestation, we have created a network of scholars from several countries of the global South and global North who will carry out individual case studies of selected indicators and situations and collaborate through a series of meetings and seminars in order to develop a theoretical framework for the way indicators act in practices of global governance. The participants are in most cases junior scholars, so this project incorporates training and mentoring of US and international researchers as well as research and theoretical development. It promotes collaboration by bringing together scholars with different disciplinary training from several countries who will develop their own research projects but share a common approach and conversation about their work.
The goal of this collaborative project is to develop a shared theoretical perspective among many scholars working in different parts of the world and on different indicators in order to develop a broader and more nuanced theoretical perspective on the role of indicators in global governance. This process involves comparison across indicators and among countries. Through comparison of these focused studies of different sites, indicators, and processes, the team will create a general theory about how indicators work in action.
The work of the network is funded by the National Science Foundation. In the initial stages, the work of the research scholars was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Information for Research Scholars is available here.
Research Scholars and their Projects
Quantiative vs. Qualitative Conditionality
Nikhil Dutta will examine the interplay of indicators and discretion in conditionality in the context of Albanian participation in NATO accession, EU accession, and Millennium Challenge Corporation grant programs. Specifically, the project will examine (i) how three organizations employing conditionality – NATO, the EU, and the MCC – arrived at their particular balances of quantitative and qualitative conditionality, (ii) whether conditions that appear indicator-driven nonetheless reserve for the decision-making organization some discretion, and (iii) how target country governments and organizations react to quantitative and qualitative conditionality. The project will entail literature review, media review, and structured interviews with Albanian government officials.
Nikhil Dutta is a graduate (JD 2010) of New York University School of Law. Dutta graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard with a degree in chemistry and physics and has a Masters of Public Affairs Degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. Dutta’s prior experience includes work in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan, and later in Azerbaijan for the American Bar Association's Central and European Law Initiative on anti-corruption and rule of law initiatives.
Measuring Law and Insitutions
* Indicators of Corruption
Migai Akech will assess the impact in Kenya of the Corruption Perception Index and Bribery Index produced by Transparency International and examine the use of these indicators in the context of the fight against corruption and institutional reform in Kenya over the last decade. Questions framing the research include: to what extent have these indicators contributed to decision-making on corruption in Kenya? How are these indicators produced? How is corruption conceptualized, and what kinds of questions are asked in the surveys that inform these indicators? How are these questions and indicators understood by the general public? To what extent does the public view these indicators as legitimate? To what extent do these indicators reflect the “true picture” of corruption? How do these indicators affect or influence the work of policy-makers, civil society, institutions, and government? What impact have these indicators had on the design of anti-corruption laws? Methodology employed in the research will include literature review, survey of public deliberations referring to the indicators in advocacy, policy and legal discourses, interviews with key participants, and analysis of media coverage of the indicators.
Migai Akech’s holds a doctorate from NYU School of Law. Prior experience includes the role of Senior Lecturer, University of Nairobi, School of Law.
Yamini Aiyar will undertake a comparative analysis of two distinct approaches to measuring, assessing and tackling corruption in the public sector in India. Her project analyzes the use of social audits at the local level – a unique experiment developed through organized civil society activism to identify corruption in government functioning – and the national Corruption Perception Index (CPI) produced by Transparency International’s India office. The comparison highlights variations in how corruption is defined, understood and measured, and considers the implications of these differing approaches for public debate on corruption and anti-corruption efforts. The study will use a combination of institutional analysis, media survey, ethnography and structured interviews. It will also draw on secondary research, particularly the analysis of social movements and collective actions as well as documentary evidence on the evolution of social audits and CPI.
Yamini Aiyar is Research Fellow and Director of the Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, India. Aiyar has extensive experience working on issues related to strengthening public service delivery systems by institutionalizing accountability mechanisms based on greater citizen participation. She uses action research to understand the effectiveness of accountability tools. She has an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and received an M.A. degree in Social and Political Sciences at St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University, UK. She also holds a BA degree in Philosophy from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University.
Smoki Musaraj will study the (mis)translation of global expert knowledge on corruption by a range of local actors in Albania. Specifically, Musaraj will conduct an ethnography of the production of corruption perception surveys and their use by various actors, including international organizations and agencies, local government authorities, and local intermediary organizations and residents making claims of state capture. The study will also examine other indicators in international development policies and decision-making towards Albania. The first part of the research will build upon ethnographic research conducted with IDRA, a subcontractor of USAID in the making of one of the two most important corruption perception surveys in Albania. The second part of the research will map out how the history of the global anti-corruption movement intertwines with the local debates (or lack thereof) about corruption in local politics. Finally, the third part of the research will monitor ongoing use of corruption perception data and rhetoric of transparency and state capture in various domains, including, official policies for privatization, legalization, and public procurement; local claims against official and unofficial forms of privatization of the state.
Smoki Musaraj will complete her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the New School University in spring 2011.
* Indicators of State Failure
Nehal Bhuta will undertake research in the areas of state-building, the history and theory of international law and social theory. It will build upon his recent work on the conceptual history of state-building in American political science. The research will investigate the production, uses and effects of three indexes of state failure: the US Fund for Peace’s “State Failure Index”, USAID’s Index of State Fragility and Instability, and the Center for Systemic Peace/Center for Global Policy’s State Fragility Index. The research will employ genealogical-historical inquiries into the emergence of relevant concepts and categories, and of the process by which non-quantitative information becomes quantifiable; formal and informal interviews of participants in the production of indexes, and of consumers and users of the indexes; content analysis of the aesthetics of the presentation of the indicator (graphic representations based on numbers generated); and content analysis of media reports, policy documents and other public sources to identify references to the indicator and ways in which the indicator is being used and or contested.
Nehal Bhuta is Assistant Professor of International Affairs, The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs, NY, USA. Bhuta’s research focuses in the areas of state-building, the history and theory of international law and social theory.
* Indicators of Justice and Rule of Law
Luciana Gross Cunha will conduct an in-depth study of the justice indicators existing in Brazil and the methodology, aims and impacts of the Brazilian Justice Confidence Index (BJCI), which she and several of her colleagues developed in 2007. In particular, she will focus on how the BCJI influences the public and policymakers in Brazil and neighboring countries and compare the BJCI to similar indicators produced by extra-national bodies such as the World Bank and the Council of Europe. The second phase of the BJCI will produce indicators of justice perception for different states in Brazil, which will enable assesment of variations in the effects of indicators among different states (e.g., to compare responses of judges in different states to the BJCI). The study will trace the genealogy of justice indicators, with particular attention to the credibility and contestability of different indicators. With respect to the BJCI, the study will examine how this indicator relates to other justice indicators and what impact it is having in Brazil. Methods employed will include analysis of reports, documents and data, interviews with key participants, examination of documents and analyzes of government and court policies, and media survey.
Luciana Gross Cunha is Professor, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Escola de Direito de São Paulo. Gross Cunha has master and doctorate degrees in political science from the University of São Paulo.
Mihaela Serban will study the construction and use of rule of law indicators in Central and Eastern Europe post-1989 at regional and country levels, focusing on Romania as a country case study. Drawing on the World Bank Governance Indicators, World Justice Project, United Nations Rule of Law Indicators and their sub-contractors, European Union’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Romania (CVM), and the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative , Serban will examine (i) how and where rule of law indicators are produced, (ii) what types of data are being used in the production and who collects such data, (iii) what is the meaning of indicators for various audiences, (iv) what is the media coverage and its effects, (v) what is the impact of indicators on policy-making, advocacy and other specific domains (e.g., access to justice), (vi) how have indicators evolved over time (e.g., has their significance increased or decreased and why), and (vii) what are alternative ways and practices of thinking about indicators (e.g, resistance to indicators, construction of counter-indicators). Methodology employed will include both quantitative and qualitative approaches, primarily: media analysis, interviews with key constructors and users of indicators domestically and internationally, examination of documents discussing or using indicators for policy or for reporting to treaty bodies, as well as in legal and law-making contexts, court decisions involving indicators, and, if available, surveys of the general population concerning understanding and reliance on indicators.
Mihaela Serban (PhD, New York University’s Institute for Law and Society, New York, USA) has done research on human rights and the rule of law in the transition to socialism and post-socialism in Romania. She has a law degree from the University of Bucharest and a Master in Law Degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Studies from Central European University. Serban’ previous research experience includes archival, legal and ethnographic research, most recently on the translation of global human rights ideas domestically in the US and in a separate study, the use of law during the communist regime in Romania.
Rene Urueña will explore the Rule of Law Index, produced by the World Justice Project, as a case study of the rationale behind the supply of indicators in global governance. The project aims to examine the process of creating the Rule of Law index as well its relation to external incentives. In examining the process of indicator creation, Urueña will look at the institutional arrangements and contexts, the history of indicator development, the normative premises, and methodology of data gathering and analysis. In examining demand and supply of indicators, Urueña will study the consumers of the Index, competitors of the World Justice Project, and uses of the Index. The study will also entail an examination of the uses in and effects of Rule of Law Index on decision-making in Colombia. The project will entail literature and documentary review, media survey, and structured interviews with producers of the Rule of Law Index and competitor-indexes.
Rene Urueña is Assistant Professor and Director of the International Law Program, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. Urueña holds a law degree and a postgraduate degree in economics from Universidad de Los Andes, and a PhD and an LL.M (laudatur) in international law from the University of Helsinki. His publications include multiple articles in international journals and the first textbook of international organizations law written in Latin America.
* Labor Market Indicators
Paul Benjamin will explore the emergence of international labor market indicators and the debate concerning their content, validity, presentation and utility. His study will compare the different approaches of the two major international institutions involved: the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. The project will examine (i) how the relevant organizations project the scientific validity of the indicators and whether (and how) these projects reflect different ideological orientations of the organizations or different groupings within the organization, (ii) how the use of labor market indicators has impacted the debate in the international and national arenas between proponents of different views on labour law (with focus on South Africa and other African countries), and (iii) how the media, the state, organized business and organized labour utilize and incorporate indicators in their participation in national debates. His methodology includes the review of records of deliberations within the ILO and the World Bank, media surveys, and structured interviews of relevant constituencies.
Paul Benjamin is Adjunct Professor in the Labour Law Unit of the Department of Commercial Law, Cape Town University, Cape Town, South Africa, and Senior Director at the Cape Town office of Cheadle Thompson & Haysom Inc. Attorneys. Benjamin has an expertise in legal policy issues and legislative drafting in areas of labour law and public law.
* Global Reporting Initiative
Galit Sarfaty’s research will use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as a case study to examine how the transformation of indicators into international law is altering the nature of global governance. In order to understand the lifecycle of the GRI from norms to indicators to international law, the project will trace the norm production, transmission and internalization processes, focusing on the distinctive effects of GRI indicators on policy formation and decision making in corporations and domestic regulatory bodies, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Drawing upon her background in law and anthropology, Sarfaty will conduct qualitative interviews with the producers of the indicators (members of the GRI’s secretariat in Amsterdam), regulators (accounting firms that conduct third-party assurance reports for the GRI), and consumers (investors and NGOs who read the GRI reports). Sarfaty will also conduct ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with the SEC officials and representatives from a chemical company in the Fortune 500 that uses the GRI. This study aims to uncover the normative implications and unintended consequences of the use of indicators as international law, including shifts in accountability in decision making, the distribution of power among actors, and the dominance of particular forms of expertise.
Galit Sarfaty is Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Sarfaty has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard College.
Ethnography of Indicators
* Cultural Indicators for Indigenous Peoples
Jane Anderson will study the emergence, development and politics of a cluster of cultural indicators for indigenous peoples. The project will trace how and through what means indigenous political issues are afforded a certain kind of (limited) institutional legitimacy when they are framed as being ‘cultural’ in nature. The project will investigate both the conditions that enable the making of Indigenous-specific indicators as well as how an idea and rationality of cultural indicators travel across multiple networks of expertise and agency, including indigenous organizations, the United Nations, and US philanthropic organizations. The study will combine historical analysis of institutional involvement in indigenous issues and the production and promotion of cultural indicators, structured interviews of key actors, and critical ethnography to understand the horizontal and vertical movement of the indicators. It will also examine the effects that the process of quantifying “culture” in the form of these indicators has on the meaning of the concept for indigenous peoples.
Jane Anderson is on the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at Univ. of Mass/Amherst. She was Project Ethnographer with the Intellectual Property and Cultural Heritage SSHRC Project, Simon Fraser University, Canada. Anderson has worked on intellectual property issues concerning indigenous peoples and serves as an Expert Consultant for the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Creative Heritage Project. Anderson has a Ph.D. in Law from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
* Freedom House Indicators
Christopher Bradley’s research will focus on the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Freedom House and its four annual global indicators, in particular its flagship global indicator, the Freedom in the World index that purports to rank the relative freedom of nearly every state in the world. The project will unfold in three stages. The first stage will examine the link between indicator production and institutional identity, exploring the function served by indicators in allowing organizations to build a “brand name” – based on the credibility, expertise, and objectivity established by the indicator – that can aid advocacy efforts. The second stage will examine the accuracy and limitations of the indicator itself. The third stage will look at how the indicator is being used and by whom and examine the implications and consequences of the “indicator in action.” This project will involve archival research into Freedom House’s history, leadership, priorities, and decisions; literature review; and interviews with indicator producers (Freedom House associates) and users of indicators.
Christopher Bradley is Postgraduate Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin. Bradley holds an A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University; D.Phil. from Balliol College, University of Oxford (English Literature); J.D., magna cum laude, and LL.M. (International Legal Studies) from the N.Y.U. School of Law, where he was a Furman Academic Scholar, an Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He has served as editor in chief of the N.Y.U. Journal of International Law and Politics and clerked for Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
* Malaria Indicators
Rene Gerrets will explore the rapidly growing influence of indicators in contemporary global health governance, examining their role in shaping malaria research and control priorities and efforts with particular focus on the production and use of the indicators in Tanzania. It will chart the ‘social life’ of a widely-used malaria indicator by tracing the (at times contentious) processes involving its formulation, production, modification, and mobilization so as to investigate its influence on decision-making, policy generation, knowledge practices, and power relations. This project will examine the growing significance of indicators in relation to the concurrent spread of other business models such as public-private partnerships in the domain of global health. This study will use data obtained from primary and secondary sources. Primary data will be collected through a combination of ethnographic methodologies, in particular participant observation, informal and semi-structured interviewing and focus group discussions. Secondary data will be collected from a variety of written sources (e.g., institutional reports and manuals, scientific publications, policy recommendations, project evaluations, and newspaper articles or other publications in popular sources) and, if relevant, visual materials (such as videos).
Rene Gerrets (Ph.D. 2009, NYU Department of Anthropology) is a faculty member at University of Amsterdam.
