The Study of Change in the UN Multilateral System: Shifting from Rationalist to Reflectivist Approaches

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Volume 50, p. 263-274

Abstract

Traces the movement from rationalist to reflectivist approaches for dealing with change in UN multilateral institutions. In the rationalist approach, such change is understood as a process of rational calculations of individual actors in competition over scarce resources. This approach is grounded in neoclassical economic models & is generally ahistorical. In contrast, the reflectivist approach stresses the historical evolution of multilateral organizations. Scholarship on change in international organizations is now shifting to the reflectivist approach, which stresses the historical character of multilateral institutions & seeks ways in which these institutions can be transformed that also alter the fundamental power relations that brought them into being. It is concluded that the challenge for the reflectivist school will be to develop strategies for change that accomplish their goal of redistributing power & achieving greater social equity. 2 Tables, 1 Photograph. Adapted from the source document.