Football's contribution to international order: the ludic and festive reproduction of international society by world societal actors

In the English School, the relationship between international and world society has recently received increasing attention – conceptually and empirically. Adding to this developing literature, we study how world societal actors not only serve as normative counterpoints to international society or function as norm-entrepreneurs, but decisively contribute to its reproduction. Going beyond the common preoccupation with actor types, we focus on practices that are performed on the international stage. We examine the role which world sport events, especially FIFA's World Cup and the infrastructure of football, play for international society. Building on Wight, we conceptualize world sport events as a (world societal actor driven) derivative primary institution of international society, which is embedded within the particularly hybrid master primary institution of sites and festivals. We find that world sport events allow for the ludic and festive reproduction of key primary institutions (like sovereignty, territoriality, and nationalism), while they highlight how members of international society compete on the basis of shared norms and values. Naturalizing world order as international order, they make international society emotionally experienceable as feasible and desirable at a global level. In performing world sport events, world societal actors uphold rather than challenge international society.

Killing ‘Unborn Children’? The Catholic Church and Abortion Law in Poland Since 1989

Legislation on abortion in Poland is among the strictest of all European countries. As with Malta and Ireland, the regulations in Poland do not allow for the termination of a pregnancy on the grounds of the difficult social or economic situation of a woman. Post-1989 developments with regard to abortion law in Poland show the influence of the Catholic Church as a very powerful societal actor on the drafting and implementation of one of the most important policies affecting women’s rights and gender relations. Catholic ‘pro-life’ circles exercised pressure in the process of drafting and adopting the new law, as well as at the stage of the law’s implementation. The symbolic victory of the Church over abortion law is evident in the shift in general discourse and in the official language of legal acts, where, for example, ‘foetus’ has been replaced by ‘conceived child’ (in the law) or by ‘unborn child’ (in discourse). As a consequence, for public opinion abortion is seen as tantamount to ‘the act of killing the unborn child’.

Pushing the humanitarian agenda through engagement with business actors: the ICRC's experience

Large companies can have both massively positive and massively negative impacts on communities, be it directly through their operations or indirectly through their influence on decision-makers. This is particularly true when business operations take place in conflict-affected or high-risk areas. Humanitarian organisations endeavouring to bring protection and/or assistance in these areas cannot, therefore, ignore these influential actors. Engagement with business actors – as well as with any other societal actor – should be framed within a clear rationale in order to deliver positive results. This article introduces the rationale that has been developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and offers some examples of past engagement between the ICRC and business actors. It notes that occasions for humanitarian organisations to engage with business actors are likely to become more frequent in the coming years and argues that this trend, if properly managed, offers humanitarian organisations opportunities to leverage energies, know-how, and resources from the business sector for the benefit of the persons and communities that humanitarian organisations strive to protect and assist.