Global environmental agreement-making: Upping the methodological and ethical stakes of studying negotiations

Hannah Hughes; Alice Vadrot; Jen Iris Allan; Tracy Bach; Jennifer S. Bansard; Pamela Chasek; Noella Gray; Arne Langlet; Timo Leiter; Kimberly R. Marion Suiseeya; Beth Martin; Matthew Paterson; Silvia Carolina Ruiz-Rodríguez; Ina Tessnow von Wysocki; Valeria Tolis; Harriet Thew; Marcela Vecchione Gonçalves; Yulia Yamineva

doi:10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121

Global environmental agreement-making: Upping the methodological and ethical stakes of studying negotiations

Hannah Hughes, Alice Vadrot^*, Jen Iris Allan, Tracy Bach, Jennifer S. Bansard, Pamela Chasek, Noella Gray, Arne Langlet, Timo Leiter, Kimberly R. Marion Suiseeya, Beth Martin, Matthew Paterson, Silvia Carolina Ruiz-Rodríguez, Ina Tessnow von Wysocki, Valeria Tolis, Harriet Thew, Marcela Vecchione Gonçalves, Yulia Yamineva

^*Corresponding author for this work

Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

This perspective identifies how recent advances contribute to re-evaluating and re-constructing global environmental negotiations as a research object by calling into question who constitutes an actor and what constitutes a site of agreement formation. Building on this scholarship, we offer the term agreement-making to facilitate further methodological and ethical reflection. The term agreement-making broadens the conceptualisation of the actors, sites and processes constitutive of global environmental agreements and brings to the fore how these are shaped by, reflect and have the potential to re-make or transform the intertwined global order of social, political and economic relations. Agreement-making situates research within these processes, and we suggest that enhancing the methodological diversity and practical utility is a potential avenue for challenging the reproduction of academic dominance. We highlight how COVID-19 requires further adapting research practices and offers an opportunity to question whether we need to be physically present to provide critical insight, analysis and support.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	100121
Journal	Earth System Governance
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121
State	Published - Dec 2021

Funding

This work was supported by the European Research Council ( ERC ) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant 804599) led by Alice Vadrot. The collective piece draws on discussion among the authors during three events: firstly, the workshop "Conducting Research at Global Environmental Negotiations" organized by Hannah Hughes and Alice Vadrot with the financial support of the ERC project MARIPOLDATA, ( https://www.maripoldata.eu ), which took place in Vienna on September 10–11, 2019. Secondly, the Innovative Panel II of the 2020 Earth System Governance Conference entitled “How do practitioners view our work? A transdisciplinary debate about the relevance of (studying) intergovernmental negotiation sites” organized by Alice Vadrot. Thirdly, a virtual workshop on “Conducting Research on Global Environmental-Agreement Making” from 3-5 th August, 2021. The authors give special thanks to Emmanuelle Brogat for her support during the event's organization process.

Keywords

Agreement-making
COVID-19
Ethics
Ethnography
Global environmental negotiations
Methodology
Social order

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Global and Planetary Change
Geography, Planning and Development
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Political Science and International Relations
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121

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Hughes, H., Vadrot, A., Allan, J. I., Bach, T., Bansard, J. S., Chasek, P., Gray, N., Langlet, A., Leiter, T., Marion Suiseeya, K. R., Martin, B., Paterson, M., Ruiz-Rodríguez, S. C., Wysocki, I. T. V., Tolis, V., Thew, H., Gonçalves, M. V., & Yamineva, Y. (2021). Global environmental agreement-making: Upping the methodological and ethical stakes of studying negotiations. Earth System Governance, 10, Article 100121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121

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abstract = "This perspective identifies how recent advances contribute to re-evaluating and re-constructing global environmental negotiations as a research object by calling into question who constitutes an actor and what constitutes a site of agreement formation. Building on this scholarship, we offer the term agreement-making to facilitate further methodological and ethical reflection. The term agreement-making broadens the conceptualisation of the actors, sites and processes constitutive of global environmental agreements and brings to the fore how these are shaped by, reflect and have the potential to re-make or transform the intertwined global order of social, political and economic relations. Agreement-making situates research within these processes, and we suggest that enhancing the methodological diversity and practical utility is a potential avenue for challenging the reproduction of academic dominance. We highlight how COVID-19 requires further adapting research practices and offers an opportunity to question whether we need to be physically present to provide critical insight, analysis and support.",

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year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121",

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Hughes, H, Vadrot, A, Allan, JI, Bach, T, Bansard, JS, Chasek, P, Gray, N, Langlet, A, Leiter, T, Marion Suiseeya, KR, Martin, B, Paterson, M, Ruiz-Rodríguez, SC, Wysocki, ITV, Tolis, V, Thew, H, Gonçalves, MV & Yamineva, Y 2021, 'Global environmental agreement-making: Upping the methodological and ethical stakes of studying negotiations', Earth System Governance, vol. 10, 100121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100121

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AU - Hughes, Hannah

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AU - Martin, Beth

AU - Paterson, Matthew

AU - Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia Carolina

AU - Wysocki, Ina Tessnow von

AU - Tolis, Valeria

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AU - Gonçalves, Marcela Vecchione

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Global environmental agreement-making: Upping the methodological and ethical stakes of studying negotiations

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