G-local Governance
Glocal governance is a multi-stakeholder local governance practice that follows international and global human rights norms and democratic principles. The global meets the local and vice versa. The interaction between local participatory governance and the development of institutions combined with a political economy approach focuses on global changes related to the increasingly globalized expansion of capitalist modes of production, consumption, and societal reproduction.
In the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 2015, it is highlighted that to make substantive change in the world, not only in the light of Climate Change, Migration, and Artificial Intelligence, business, political stakeholders, as well as civil society representatives, have to interact and collaborate. However, there is an interaction between the local and the global, highlighting the challenges and pitfalls of strengthening democratic institutions and preventive measures to stop authoritarianism from happening under the threats of global warming, widespread corruption, and the challenges of the digital age. In short, the summit tackled the paradigm shifts of governance in the Anthropocene, an era during which our human activity has dominated the climate and environment of the entire planet. Or in other terms: If we were able to destroy the earth, might we also be able to fix it? Along with this, the participants strengthened the concept of Human Security, and hence the desire to be free, free from want, and live a self-determined and dignified life, the essential driver for enhancing democracy.
Glocal governance can, in brief, be described as a procedural, rotating, and non-permanent regime and actors that gather, consult and build consensus in adherence with universally agreed norms and standards. Glocalized governance is a triangulation between a (1) diverse set of stakeholders and actors both on local, global, and national levels; (2) good governance and democratic principles; and (3) universal values and global norms and standards.
See more in my open access book Anja Mihr, Glocal Governance, How to govern in the Anthropocene, Springer, 2022
Interview on Plataform OSICIO (2024)
(English/Espanol)
There is a global quest for a Third Way of Governance: Glocal Governance
The answer to many of our current challenges is local governance. Global and international organizations and institutions respond to migration, climate change, and artificial intelligence (AI) challenges by setting international standards to resolve problems, for example, by treaties or human rights norms, and the local level and actors implement and enforce them. Thus, it takes both levels to respond to these challenges most effectively. It is a combination of local and global, namely setting and agreeing on norms among international actors, such as human rights treaties by the UN, taxation and trade standards set by the WTO or G20, or for example, global health standards during the Covid-pandemic set by the WhO, or the global UN Migration Pact or the UNFCC for norms related to Climate Change, and then implementing them at the local level, namely where migrants arrive or depart from, on the city level.
Podcast ‚Reimagine Glocal Governance‘ (2024)
The last episode of “Reimagining Politics through Human Rights” is out! The Global Campus of Human Rights concludes the series with a conversation about reimagining governance. Together with Graham Finlay, I am on the crisis of nation-states worldwide and the increasing relevance of global governance in the politics of human rights.
Listen to the podcast #ToTheRighthouse here https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=468346999459273
Glocal Twist to the Covid- Pandemic (2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic is simultaneously global and local. Fighting it requires global efforts and collaboration across all national borders, but it will only be successful if local and individual actors complete the efforts.See feature ‚Glocal Twist to the Pandemic‘ about Covid-19 and Glocal Governance 2020
