2021 Prize in International Relations

Winner: Stefan Renckens, Toronto

Private Governance and Public Authority. Regulating Sustainability in a Global Economy, Cambridge University Press 2020 

Excerpt from jury report: The volume explores the conditions under which governments intervene in the regulation of private governance systems in the European Union. In two case studies, organic agriculture and biofuels, public authorities intervened to establish standards and in two cases, Fair Trade and fisheries, they did not. The study develops a theoretical model to account for these differences. The analysis makes a significant contribution to the literature in International Relations on private authority by focusing specifically on the agency and interests of private actors in private-public regulatory arrangements. The volume is well-written, carefully organized, and amply documented.