Anja P. Jakobi, Bastian Loges & Denise Päthe (2019) The Transnational Governance of Plastics. Actors, Structures and Processes. Arbeitspapier. TU Braunschweig
Plastic and its daily use have emerged as a contested topic due to its impact on the environment and on disposal systems, as well as to other consumer concerns. Regulation and standardization in this field are of high technical relevance, while little research exists in International Relations (and Political Science) that analyzes the specific actors, structures and processes involved in these diverse regulatory activities. This paper provides a framework for such an analysis: In a first step, we present the complexity of problems linked to plastic and its transnational governance. In a second step, we present actors and contexts of current governance efforts, identifying plastics governance as a field in which a multitude of regulatory processes can be found, but less so specific governance outcomes. Given the lack of overarching and comprehensive regulations on plastics, we elaborate in a third step on the different processes of current cooperation and conflict in plastics governance. Finally, we summarize the current state of governance in this field and outline different research strands in IR to which research results on plastics governance can contribute.
Plastic use is an important, yet multidimensional environmental challenge, targeted by a large range of initiatives and governance approaches worldwide. It is yet unknown, however, whether the different anti-plastic dynamics ultimately lead to effective plastic governance. Some case studies of plastic bags and microbeads show that the existent regulatory variance can result in effective governance, but these findings cannot be transferred to plastics as a whole. Based on the theoretical framework of norm research, we analyze properties of anti-plastic norms and the agency linked to them. Our findings indicate ‘de-centered norm dynamics’ that evolve around very different problematizations, values and behaviors linked to plastic, and which are thus unlikely to result in a coherent or complementary form of plastics governance.