ABSTRACT
A prominent development in the move over recent decades from “international organization” to “global governance” has been the growing involvement of nongovern - mental organizations (NGOs) and civil society actors more generally. Civil society participation goes back to the earliest days of global regulation; however, the scale and intensity of contemporary interactions are in a different league. As of 2011 some 3,500 NGOs have consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC).1 Since the 1990s hundreds of civil society associations attend the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as Ministerial Conferences of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Summits of the Group of 8 (G8) and the Group of 20 (G20) can attract thousands of street protesters. Questions of global governance have also figured prominently in the World Social Forum movement since 2001. In some cases, such as the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), NGOs themselves are making and implementing the rules of global governance.
