ASU's Abbott speaks at ISA annual meeting

Professor Kenneth Abbott, a Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, gave three presentations at the International Studies Association’s Annual Convention in Montreal on March 18.

The first was a paper co-authored with David Gartner, Associate Professor at the College of Law, which compares the nature of civil society participation in international environmental organizations and global health organizations.

“People think of environmental organizations as very participatory, and they are,” Abbott said. “But we show that modern global health organizations are taking participation to a new level by fully engaging civil society representatives in decision making.

The two other presentations focused on what Abbott and his co-authors call “orchestration,” a strategy by which regulatory authorities enlist intermediaries, often private groups, to influence the behavior of the targets of regulation (business firms, for example) instead of trying to influence them directly through legally binding rules or recommendations.

Abbott is also a Faculty Fellow in the College of Law’s Center for Law, Science & Innovation, a member of the advisory board of the Center for Law and Global Affairs, and a Professor of Global Studies at ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies, where he co-directs the global environmental governance program.

A leading scholar in international law, Abbott’s teaching and research focus on the interdisciplinary study of international law and international relations, including public and private institutions, environmental issues, development policy, global health, and international trade and economic law.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law