ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the history of informal plurilateralism. It discusses the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC) as a particular example of informal plurilateralism used as a forum to discuss international migration, whose impact being hegemonic doctrine formation. The shift in ontology from the largely ideologically charged thinking during the Cold War towards neoliberal consensus with its technocratic mindset has prompted a transformation in the institutional makeup of the international community. Informal plurilateral processes leave the formal institutional base and form an autonomous process of 'structural differentiation'. Under globalization and ever-increasing interdependencies, formal multilateralism is regarded as less and less capable of addressing pressing global problems due to long and tightly rule bound intra-organizational decision-making processes. Informal plurilateral processes leave the formal institutional base and form an autonomous process of 'structural differentiation'. Distinguishing characteristics of informal plurilateralism are precisely its informality and its technocratic approach.
