Transnational Activists as

Motors for Change

Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Mar-garet E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,1998). 240 pp., paper (ISBN: 0-8014-8456-1), $15.95.

This book breaks new theoretical ground and addresses important questionsat the intersection between the fields of social movements, internationalrelations, and comparative politics. It is part of a growing literature

on transnational politics, global civil society, and domestic-internationalinteraction.

The authors introduce readers to a “new” actor in international relations—transnational advocacy networks (TANs)—in much the same way a botanistmight introduce a new plant species: they have been there for some time, but wehave never recognized or studied them before. As a result, one of the purposes ofthis book is to identify the characteristics and methods of TANs; another purposeis to distinguish them from other actors in world politics.

Keck and Sikkink ably accomplish this task. They define TANs as “those rel-evant actors working internationally on an issue, who are bound together byshared values, a common discourse, and dense exchanges of information and ser-vices” (p. 2). These networks include nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),charitable foundations, media organizations, churches, and even parts of govern-ments. They differ from other transnational actors because they are motivated bytheir “shared principal ideas or values,” whereas transnational corporations aremotivated by instrumental goals, and transnational epistemic communities areheld together by shared causal ideas (p. 30).

Having identified their key actors, Keck and Sikkink ask two crucial ques-tions: (1) Where do TANs come from? and (2) What impact do they have andunder what conditions? In response to the first question, the authors argue thatTANs emerge when domestic groups cannot resolve problems by appealing tostate authorities; when “political entrepreneurs” believe that networking will aidtheir cause; and when international contacts (e.g., conferences) create oppor-tunities. Thus we would expect the increasing opportunities of the global

© 1999 International Studies AssociationPublished by Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK.

communications revolution to increase the number of transnational networks, atrend for which Keck and Sikkink present some evidence.

In response to the second question, the authors argue that transnational net-works can have five types of influence on targeted actors: (1) agenda setting;(2) changing discourse; (3) influence on institutional procedures; (4) influenceon policy change; and (5) influence on state behavior. This breakdown allowsthem to offer nuanced assessments of networks’ success and to avoid simplisticcynicism about the failure of transnational activists to resolve the world’s prob-lems, or simplistic euphoria about NGOs’ ability to resolve all problems.

Keck and Sikkink’s principal hypothesis is basic and intuitive: networks aremore likely to wield influence when they include many actors with strong con-nections and a regular flow of information between them. This proposition isstrongly conditioned by two factors. First, the issue advanced by the networkmust resonate with the targeted public or policymakers. Issues with universalappeal do better than those with built-in cultural biases. Thus campaigns againsttorture are more likely to resonate than appeals for Muslim women to abandonveils. Still, it is difficult to determine whether an issue will resonate. Female cir-cumcision sometimes involves severe bodily damage (a universal theme), yetcampaigns against the practice have been tarred with charges of cultural bias.The second condition is actor vulnerability. Not all actors are equally vulnerable,and some care more about normative pressure than others. This conditioning fac-tor is quite broad, as different actors could be vulnerable for any number ofreasons.

Methodologically, the authors adopt a “grounded theory” that builds theoriesinductively. Given the absence of previous work on transnational networks,Keck and Sikkink examine a wide variety of cases to build their theories.Although some might complain that an inductive approach lacks theoreticalrigor, Keck and Sikkink demonstrate the virtues of this technique. The theoreti-cal reasoning and empirical studies are clearly related to each other. Thetheoretical propositions offer insights for both scholars and activists, and thebook offers a good example of the “back-and-forth” between theory and evi-dence that characterizes significant scholarly work.

The authors cover a breathtaking variety of cases, divided into chapters byhistory and by issue area. The second chapter considers four historical casesfrom the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: anti-footbinding campaigns inChina, the campaign against female circumcision in Kenya, efforts to end slav-ery, and the women’s suffrage movement. The next three chapters are dedicatedto human rights networks, environmental networks, and women’s networks,respectively. Within each of these chapters, the authors first consider the riseof the networks and then their effects on targeted actors. If we consider eachtargeted actor as a separate case, then there are a total of seven contemporarycases in these three chapters: human rights in Mexico and Argentina; tropical

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deforestation issues in Brazil, the World Bank, and Malaysia; and issues of vio-lence against women in the United Nations and the Organization of AmericanStates.

The case selection demonstrates careful thinking about research designissues. Transnational networks are both dependent and independent variables inthis study, depending on the question being asked. When the authors wish toexplain the evolution of transnational networks, they also consider cases inwhich we might have expected a transnational movement, yet none materialized.Scholars would do well to examine Keck and Sikkink’s use of “non-cases,” ornegative outcomes on the dependent variable (pp. 39–40). At other times, theauthors wish to explain the effects of transnational networks, and again theyincorporate cases with substantial variation in both the strength of the networkand its success.

Although this book is admirable, it is not without flaws. First, the bookexamines three very different types of “actors” targeted by transnational net-works—societies, states, and international organizations—without recognizingthe distinctions among them or incorporating them into the theoretical proposi-tions. Campaigns against footbinding in China and female circumcision inKenya, for example, largely bypassed the state to focus on widespread socialpractices. Human rights campaigns in Mexico and Argentina focused on statepractices, while women’s rights campaigns targeted international organizations.

The difficulty is that Keck and Sikkink’s theorizing about targeted actors isunderdeveloped and state-centered. They argue that “target actors must be vul-nerable either to material incentives or to sanctions from outside actors, or theymust be sensitive to pressure because of gaps between stated commitments andpractice” (p. 29). This argument, which is developed in a single paragraph in theintroductory chapter, seems to apply mostly to states. Societies do not have“stated commitments,” nor do transnational networks apply economic sanctionsto societies. Likewise, it is awkward to discuss the transnational economic sanc-tioning of international organizations.

Second, and related to the first problem, we need a better understanding ofwhy targeted actors care about pressure from transnational networks. Keck andSikkink need a more well developed causal mechanism linking networks to dis-cursive or behavioral change. The authors suggest that transnational campaignssometimes mobilize economic “leverage” against targeted actors. Yet, in most ofthe cases studied, economic penalties were slight or negligible. Only in Argen-tina did economic sanctions appear to play much of a role.

Thus many of the case studies rest on the politics of information, persuasion,symbols, and moral condemnation. But it is unclear why some targeted actors areworried enough about their hypocrisy to change. Keck and Sikkink argue thatsome states change because of concerns about their international image,although this just restates the argument that some states are more vulnerable.

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Further, this argument is sure to raise the hackles of cynics who could cite manystates that seem unconcerned about their image or that make only superficialchanges to improve their image.

Keck and Sikkink are making a difficult but not impossible argument. It neednot be discarded, but it requires more development. The authors marshal evi-dence to show a significant number of correlations between network pressuresand changes in the targeted actors. They argue persuasively that changes in tar-geted actors tend to be gradual, long-term processes that often begin at asuperficial level and progress to more substantive changes. What is lacking is adiscussion of the normative bases of the political power of the targeted actors,and why some states or international organizations are more sensitive to erodingnormative positions than others.

These difficulties suggest directions for future research, some of which theauthors address in their concluding chapter. Comparisons of targeted actors andtheir sources of vulnerabilities could yield rich insights into why and under whatconditions networks matter. Keck and Sikkink argue that international relationstheories need more motors of change. They have identified one such motor, butnow scholars need to better understand how, why, and under what conditionsthat motor works. Keck and Sikkink have provided an excellent starting point.

This book is well organized, accessible to nonspecialists, and deserves to bewidely read. Scholars with interests in transnational politics, social movements,human rights issues, environmental issues, or women’s issues will profit fromreading this book. Activists involved in transnational causes should also enjoythis book, as it offers a wealth of details about a wide variety of transnationalcampaigns and insights into strategies and circumstances that produce success. Itis also suitable for use in undergraduate classes. I have used it myself in special-ized courses that deal with social movements, global governance, transnationalpolitics, or the “new issues” of international relations.

ReferencesWilliam I. Robinson,Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, U.S. Intervention,

and Hegemony(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Jackie Smith, Charles Chatfield, and Ron Pagnucco, eds.Transnational SocialMovements and Global Politics: Solidarity beyond the State(Syracuse, N.Y.:Syracuse University Press, 1997).

Paul Wapner,Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics(Albany: StateUniversity of New York, 1995).

—Darren HawkinsBrigham Young University

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