A Global Internet Governance Strategic Triangle: IOs, NGOs, and Technical Communities

Résumé En

While only three main categories of stakeholders (Governments, Businesses, and Civil Society) are most commonly recognized as actors in “multistakeholder” processes in global Internet governance studies, findings from our three-year transatlantic research project show that other kinds of actors also are crafting roles and designing strategies for themselves as global internet governance players engaging in this multistakeholder arena.Using a framework from political science, communication theory, and organizational sociology, this paper analyzes (with interview, observational, and archival data) the emergence of these stakeholders and the strategic interactions between them as well as with other actors. It studies the formal and informal relationships and processes developed by main actors from these three categories, such as knowledge transfer and mutually reinforcing strategies to gain more weight in shaping Global Internet Governance discussions and policies. Particular attention is paid to issues of recognition and power redistribution resulting from these processes. Findings illustrate how global technical community organizations (such as ICANN and ISOC), NGOs (such as APC and ad hoc coalitions of NGOs), and thematic and/or regional international organizations (such as UNESCO, OECD and the Council of Europe) widen their missions, scope and modus operandi in the field. Finally, highlighting new trends of global Internet governance institutionalization processes, the paper examines whether Global NGOs and Technical Communities have succeeded in readjusting recognition equations in complex Internet policy arenas.