Forum: New Perspectives on Transnational Non-State Actors—A Forum Honoring the Work of Thomas Risse

Abstract

AbstractThis forum seeks to honor the contributions of a scholar who has greatly influenced international relations (IR) scholarship on transnational relations and constructivist research: Thomas Risse. Best known for his pathbreaking studies on the importance of transnational actors, the power of international norms and ideas in international relations, and the influence of domestic structures on international interactions, his work has significantly contributed to several interrelated research agendas within IR. The forum takes a fresh look at some of his contributions, focusing on assumptions about the nature of non-state actors, the content of human rights, and the evolution of knowledge that underpin his work. Interrogating especially some of the liberal assumptions that have informed these lines of research, we ask: are we still dealing with the same kinds of non-state actors that Thomas Risse and early constructivist research have analyzed? How has the nature of these actors changed, and how has this affected the processes and mechanisms by which they shape transnational politics? To what extent do these changes require different research methodologies? And, finally, which directions for future research on non-state actors, human rights, and constructivism emerge from these discussions?