Elizabeth Friesen - The World Economic Forum and Transnational Networking

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First edition 2020

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ISBN: 978-1-83982-459-3 (Print)
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I first became aware of the impact of the World Economic Forum (WEF) while tracing the progress of the transnational civil society campaign for the cancellation of third world debt, a campaign which culminated in the adoption of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative at the G8 in 2005. I chose the case of the campaign for the cancellation of third world debt because I was interested in theories of power. The power of the liberalised international financial system to shape not only international economic relations but also economic, political, and social realities within states seemed to me to be unprecedented in its scope and scale. Following Polanyi, I wanted to explore the kinds of power societies might bring to bear in response.

This eventually led me to the transnational civil society campaign for the cancellation of third world debt (Friesen, 2009, 2012). As I traced the origins and activities of the national and transnational civil society actors, organisations, and networks involved in this campaign, I became aware of the somewhat surprising role the WEF had played in this process. There is very little analysis of the WEF as a transnational political actor and I believe this is a serious oversight. The WEF is an increasingly engaged and well-connected transnational actor in the global political economy. The innovative transnational politics practiced by the WEF are not formally legitimised by states but they are underpinned by unconventional sources of power and influence. At present, the norms and formal institutional structures of the international order appear to be eroding and research into transnational politics and non-state sources of resilience in the international political economy is particularly relevant. The WEF is an unusual transnational organisation with unique capabilities. It is energetic, ambitious, innovative and now more determined than ever to take a part in addressing the most challenging issues in world politics.

World politics is continuing to undergo rapid and unprecedented change. Traditional state centric international politics is being supplemented by a multitude of new political actors. Organisations and networks drawing on innovative sources of power and legitimacy, have become increasingly influential in world politics. In recent years, much has been written about civil society and its capacity to challenge conventional wisdom, shape discourse, and set new agendas. In this large body of research, however, the impact of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been neglected. This is, perhaps, due to the WEFs private structure, its elite membership, or its apparent emphasis on the interests of its corporate members. After all what could an elitist talk shop possibly have to do with improving the state of the world in any meaningful way? The WEF, however unusual, is much more than a private club for business elites. It has become an important part of transnational civil society. Neglecting its impact is a serious omission which impedes our ability to grasp the bigger picture of what is going on in international and transnational politics both today and in the future. As early optimism about the emancipatory potential of civil society, transnational politics, and social media, networking gives way to a darker reality, research which seeks to better understand the sources of transformation and breakdown, but also resilience and continuity in world politics is more relevant than ever.

This book examines the WEF as a meeting place, a transnational network, an influential campaigner participant, and a launching pad for a myriad of initiatives intended to improve the state of the world.1 It will discuss how this innovative organisation developed, how it works, what it has to offer, why it matters today, and what it might mean for the future.

The WEF started off in life as the European Management Forum (EMF). It was founded in 1971 to help European businessmen benefit from the best American management techniques available at the time. The EMF quickly developed into an important private organisation which prided itself on providing networking opportunities and cutting edge information on the state of the world economy to its business members. In 1987, it changed its name to the WEF. Over the years, the WEF has continued to expand its activities in scope and scale. The WEF wields substantial material power. It is an important source of up-to-date data and analysis of the world economy. It creates and controls access to important networking opportunities for its members and others. In 1999, the WEF adopted a new motto Committed to improving the state of the world and over the past 20 years it has developed into an important norm entrepreneur. Just as more conventional transnational civil society actors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) strive to raise consciousness, reshape agendas, and redefine interests so too does the WEF. What is particularly interesting is that the WEF and civil society organizations (CSOs) cooperate and sometimes share common normative goals.

While researching the transnational civil society campaign for the cancellation of third world debt (Friesen, 2012), I was struck by the somewhat counterintuitive discovery that in this campaign the elite, business centric WEF did not necessarily stand in opposition to the more populist CSOs and NGOs. Instead, with respect to this campaign at least, appeared to work as allies. For years, the WEF had prided itself on providing cutting edge information as well as unique educational and networking opportunities to its business members. Therefore, it is not really surprising that after observing the coming out of the alter-globalisation movement in Seattle in the fall of 1999, the WEFs leadership determined to invite representatives of many of the NGOs involved in the Seattle demonstrations to the Davos annual meeting in February 2000. A number of NGOs accepted the invitation and since then representatives from organisations like Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, and Amnesty International have become important participants at Davos. Their influence can be seen in the forging of support for third world debt cancellation, philanthropic efforts such as the Global Fund, and the doctrine of corporate social responsibility. The Davos meeting became an important site from which to challenge simplistic versions of neoliberalism or market fundamentalism. As we will see below, market fundamentalism is a term coined at Davos and intended to call attention to how a dogmatic faith in neoliberal ideology can produce detrimental outcomes in the international political economy. The complementary relationship between the WEF and other transnational and international actors continues to this day. It can be seen in ongoing efforts to target social tensions, economic inequality, climate change, as well as the challenges presented new rapidly evolving technologies of what the WEF has labelled the Fourth Industrial Revolution.