Internal Affairs - by Wendy H Wong

About the Book

This book argues that the political salience of human rights NGOs and their campaigns is, in part, determined by their organizational structures.

Book Synopsis

Why are some international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) more politically salient than others, and why are some NGOs better able to influence the norms of human rights? Internal Affairs shows how the organizational structures of human rights NGOs and their campaigns determine their influence on policy. Drawing on data from seven major international organizations--the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins sans Frontières, Oxfam International, Anti-Slavery International, and the International League of Human Rights--Wendy H. Wong demonstrates that NGOs that choose to centralize agenda-setting and decentralize the implementation of that agenda are more successful in gaining traction in international politics.Challenging the conventional wisdom that the most successful NGOs are those that find the "right" cause or have the most resources, Wong shows that how NGOs make and implement decisions is critical to their effectiveness in influencing international norms about human rights. Building on the insights of network theory and organizational sociology, Wong traces how power works within NGOs and affects their external authority. The internal coherence of an organization, as reflected in its public statements and actions, goes a long way to assure its influence over the often tumultuous elements of the international human rights landscape.

Review Quotes

Offers fascinating and important insights into the impact of intra-organizational dynamics on international politics. It deserves to be read widely by scholars and students interested in NGOs, advocacy networks and organizational theory.

Political scientist Wendy Wong's Internal Affairs offers an important empirical approach that focuses on the organizational structure of internationally oriented NGOs all headquartered in the global North to explain why they, and the issues that they do promote, are not equally influential in terms of their impact on human rights.... [Wong] examines a variety of transnational campaigns as a separate unit of observation for comparative analysis, enabling her to independently assess the political salience of the ideas that these organizations sponsor.

What makes a human right relevant on the world stage? Is it its inherent moral value? Or is its relevance a product of marketing, funding, or the magnetic capabilities of a charismatic leader? Internal Affairs suggests we turn our attention to the structural design of NGOs in order to understand what distinguishes those human rights issues that are championed as international concerns from those that barely make a ripple. At the crux of this well written and easily assignable text stands the notion that the success of a rights-campaign hinges on its structure. The book will be a valuable contribution to the scholarly libraries of anthropologists, political scientists, and international relations experts, while also serving as an indispensable tool for rights-based practitioners.

Wong's prose is clear and well organized, her evidence carefully presented, and her argument compelling. Researchers in political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology, and public policy, as well as those engaged in human rights activism will welcome the theoretical and substantive contributions of Internal Affairs.

About the Author

Wendy H. Wong is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and Director of the Trudeau Center for Peace, Conflict, and Justice at the Munk School of Global Affairs.