Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 22 January 2021 presented a turn in nuclear politics. It is a unique instrument in the governance of nuclear weapons, because its advocacy was led and managed by non-nuclear weapon states and transnational civil soci...
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University of Johannesburg
2024-10-01
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| Series: | The Thinker |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/3522 |
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| author | Michaelan Sinnett Joelien Pretorius |
| author_facet | Michaelan Sinnett Joelien Pretorius |
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The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 22 January 2021 presented a turn in nuclear politics. It is a unique instrument in the governance of nuclear weapons, because its advocacy was led and managed by non-nuclear weapon states and transnational civil society organisations. It is widely acknowledged that transnational civil society plays a democratising role in international governance and that the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) did exactly that for nuclear governance through its facilitation of the Humanitarian Initiative that unfolded into the negotiation of the TPNW. This article elaborates on this role, guided by Scholte’s (2002) framework of the assessment of transnational civil society’s democratising role in global governance, to map ICAN’s role in six criteria: awareness, participation, contestation, transparency, accountability, and legitimacy. However, the extent of broad-based representation of civil societies across the world is equally important to ICAN’s role. It is in this respect that the article turns specifically to African civil society participation as part of ICAN. Although several African civil society organisations partnered with ICAN, the question goes beyond the quantitative side of their participation, to its quality. Although challenges were experienced in the leadership and decision-making structures around racial and regional diversity, African campaigners see their role in ICAN as transformative and empowering.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4c16e4cc9c0e4196a4e4c21dff8be146 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2075-2458 2616-907X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Thinker |
| spelling | doaj-art-4c16e4cc9c0e4196a4e4c21dff8be1462025-01-28T09:01:35ZengUniversity of JohannesburgThe Thinker2075-24582616-907X2024-10-01100310.36615/2nx5r512Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)Michaelan Sinnett0Joelien Pretorius1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1628-0073University of the Western CapeUniversity of the Western Cape The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 22 January 2021 presented a turn in nuclear politics. It is a unique instrument in the governance of nuclear weapons, because its advocacy was led and managed by non-nuclear weapon states and transnational civil society organisations. It is widely acknowledged that transnational civil society plays a democratising role in international governance and that the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) did exactly that for nuclear governance through its facilitation of the Humanitarian Initiative that unfolded into the negotiation of the TPNW. This article elaborates on this role, guided by Scholte’s (2002) framework of the assessment of transnational civil society’s democratising role in global governance, to map ICAN’s role in six criteria: awareness, participation, contestation, transparency, accountability, and legitimacy. However, the extent of broad-based representation of civil societies across the world is equally important to ICAN’s role. It is in this respect that the article turns specifically to African civil society participation as part of ICAN. Although several African civil society organisations partnered with ICAN, the question goes beyond the quantitative side of their participation, to its quality. Although challenges were experienced in the leadership and decision-making structures around racial and regional diversity, African campaigners see their role in ICAN as transformative and empowering. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/3522Nuclear GovernanceAfrican Civil SocietyNuclear WeaponsICANInternational Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons |
| spellingShingle | Michaelan Sinnett Joelien Pretorius Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) The Thinker Nuclear Governance African Civil Society Nuclear Weapons ICAN International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons |
| title | Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) |
| title_full | Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) |
| title_fullStr | Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) |
| title_short | Democratising Nuclear Governance: The Role of African Civil Society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) |
| title_sort | democratising nuclear governance the role of african civil society in the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons ican |
| topic | Nuclear Governance African Civil Society Nuclear Weapons ICAN International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/3522 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelansinnett democratisingnucleargovernancetheroleofafricancivilsocietyintheinternationalcampaigntoabolishnuclearweaponsican AT joelienpretorius democratisingnucleargovernancetheroleofafricancivilsocietyintheinternationalcampaigntoabolishnuclearweaponsican |