ABSTRACT
This chapter applies the common lifeworld concept to the case study of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN's specialised agency regulating international shipping. Significantly, international shipping is responsible for the transportation of 90% of world trade (ICS 2019). The IMO is therefore a pivotal international organisation (IO) whose work is vital for the international economy and for simply enabling humankind to engage in world trade. Nonetheless, is this international institution home to a common lifeworld? This chapter sheds a bright light over the IMO while analysing the ideational context of its deliberations. The search for the lifeworld proceeds along the four criteria or ‘creation factors’ that are identified in the first section of the chapter. Each ‘creation factor’ is discussed with reference to primary documents and empirical material relating to the IMO. Following the ‘creations factors’, the institutionalisation of the lifeworld and its interactions with the IMO's deliberations are then discussed. The chapter then highlights the relevance of the international lifeworld concept to many IR research agendas.
