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This study analyzes transnational advocacy networks as a new form of global governance addressing transnational human trafficking. Unlike traditional forms of global governance characterized by paternalistic actions benefiting countries with more powerful governments, transnational advocacy networks are emerging as a more effective alternative by recognizing multilateral interactions among actors across borders. The author employed an analytical framework of hermeneutic structurism to evaluate the effectiveness or failure of transnational advocacy networks in addressing transnational human trafficking.
Keywords: global governance, human trafficking, nongovernmental organizations, transnational advocacy networks
A transnational advocacy network (TAN) consists of a group of state and non-state actors sharing a common set of ideals and values and transcending political borders (Keck & Sikkink, 1999). It has been recognized as a new process or space within global governance that has brought in new actors, especially those addressing humanitarian or environmental issues (Allen, 2015; Fries & Walkenhorst, 2013; Gilson, 2011; Yamamoto, 2009), as theorized by Keck and Sikkink (1999). The TAN concept is relatively new, attributable to the decentralization of power within global governance and initiated by the catalysts of globalization and the information revolution with a decrease in the cost of interaction and the barriers to global politics (Nye, 2011). The participation of these new actors, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), in global governance is unique to multilateral interactions. This is a seismic shift away from the traditional paradigm of global governance operating via unilateral interactions (paternalism) and typically initiated by government fiat.
While the TAN was gaining recognition among global activists in the 1990s, transnational human trafficking was also becoming a focus of global humanitarian agendas. Human trafficking is a subset of slavery, with the majority of the victims being women and children who are compelled to work in the international sex industry (Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 2000). Considerable effort was made to tackle transnational human trafficking issues. At first, this work was limited to national governments and intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, all within the traditional framework of global governance. There has been discussion about only governmental and intergovernmental organizations imposing limitations to address this dehumanizing and transnational crime. This imposition is attributable to transnational policies enacted as a product of global governance, in which more powerful governments have been criticized...