Scandinavia in Global Politics: Staffing International Organizations and Seeking Influence (1970-2020)

Abstract

This thesis examines Denmark, Norway, and Sweden’s attempt to staff International Organisations (IOs) and influence global politics from 1970 to 2020. The thesis discusses the importance of political networks, political entrepreneurship, and interstate cooperation for how Scandinavians operate in IOs and global politics and how this helps them to upload their policy preferences into IOs. This includes soft policy areas like official development assistance (ODA), environment, gender, and to a lesser extent the hard policy field of security.
In exploring Scandinavian staffing and policymaking, the thesis draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and cultural capital, combined with International Relations practice theory. Methodologically, the thesis builds on document analysis, extensive data generated through a survey, and interviews with 29 practitioners, as well as some archival research.
This thesis argues that their shared habitus ties together the bureaucratic, diplomatic, and political personnel of the Scandinavian states, including those who work within, or as state representatives at IOs. Their shared habitus greatly facilitates political networking among individual actors and cooperation among the three states. Furthermore, this together with their strong cultural capital, reflected in their good reputation with both the Global South and Western states, has enabled them to be successful in both staffing IOs and uploading their policy preferences, in soft policy areas during the last 50 years.

Date of Award	5 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Wolfram Kaiser (Supervisor), Brigitte Leucht (Supervisor) & Melita Lazell (Supervisor)