Multilateralism from the middle: stratification and NGOs

Abstract

The universe of civil society organizations is vast and stratified. This article focuses on a particular type of organization: those that utilize high levels of multilateral expertise and expend significant resources on advocacy work within international organizations. Borrowing from middle power state theory, I suggest that considering material and social stratification helps us to understand the conditions that lead to a particular NGO role in global diplomacy. Drawing on meeting records, committee and working group membership, and interviews with organization representatives, this paper offers a plausibility probe investigation of a set of NGOs that are exceptionally engaged in civil society affairs in the New York hub of the United Nations.