Reframing the BRICS: The Ascendancy of ’Concerted’ Informal Institutions and Implications for the Global South and Middle Powers

Talk Synopsis
This talk locates the ascendancy of ‘concerted’ informal institutions both conceptually and operationally, with particular attention on the BRICS. In terms of interpretative framing, the speaker argues that the mainstream International Relations (IR) literature has overlooked the reproductive quality of concert-oriented institutions, notably summits at the apex of power in global politics. In operational terms, the case is made that ‘concertation’ challenges multilateralism and sovereignty as a fundamental institution. From both perspectives, the scholarly contribution of Hedley Bull offers a valuable means of recalibration. What is most significant is Bull’s distinction between two types of concertation: with the pluralist (unlike-minded) type illustrated by the G20 and the solidarist (like-minded) type illustrated by the G7 and the BRICS. Both types emerge in crises, and often to try to go around other institutions. Unlike formal institutions, informal institutions are essentially arbitrary, useful in operating but with a normative downside. So attractive to countries such as the US, but sensitive from a Middle Power and Global South perspective. But unlike past eras, the ascendancy of both pluralist and solidarist types of concertation have gained momentum. The second half of the talk turns attention more specifically to the BRICS, as a barometer for middle power and Global South attitudes to concertation. Professor Andrew Cooper will trace the motivations and modalities of the BRICS as an informal self-selected institution.

Speaker’s Profile
Dr. Andrew F. Cooper is University Research Chair, Department of Political Science, and Professor, Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, Canada. He holds a DPhil in International Relations from Oxford University. From 2004 to 2010 he was Associate Director and Distinguished Fellow at The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). His books include as author The Concertation Impulse in World Politics: Contestation over Fundamental Institutions and the Constrictions of Institutionalist International Relations (OUP, 2024), The BRICS – A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2016); co-author of The Group of Twenty (Routledge, 2012), and Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order (UBC/Melbourne, 1993); editor of Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War (Macmillan, 1997); and the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (OUP, 2103). His articles have appeared in leading journals such as International Organization, International Affairs, World Development, International Studies Review, and Global Policy Journal. In 2019 he was the first recipient of the Distinguished Studies Award, Diplomatic Studies Section, International Studies Association.

This entry was posted in . Bookmark the permalink.