Dr. William E. DeMars is Professor & Chair, Department of Government, Wofford College, USA.

Dennis Dijkzeul is the Executive Director of the Institute of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict and Professor of Conflict and Organization Research at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

PART 1: Introduction: 1. William E. DeMars and Dennis Dijkzeul - NGOing: Practice, Bridging and Power PART 2: Theory 2. Morten Skumsrud Andersen - How to Study NGOs in Practice: A Relational Approach, 3. Karen A. Mingst and James P. Muldoon, Jr. - Global Governance and NGOs: Reconceptualizing International Relations for the 21st Century, 4. Anna Ohanyan - Network Institutionalism: A New Synthesis for NGO Studies PART 3: Crosscutting Evidence: History, Region, Accountability 5. Bob Reinalda - The Coevolution of Non-Governmental and Intergovernmental Organizations in Historical Perspective, 6. Elizabeth A. Bloodgood - Being an NGO in the OECD, 7. Cristina M. Balboa - The Legitimacy and Accountability of International NGOs PART 4: Case Evidence: NGOs and Networks 8. Shareen Hertel - The Theoretical and Practical Implications of Public/Private Partnerships for Labor Rights Advocacy 9. Patrice C. McMahon - NGOs in Peacebuilding: High Expectations, Mixed Results 10. William E. DeMars - Follow the Partners, 11. Dennis Dijkzeul - Heart of Paradox: War, Rape and NGOs in the DR Congo PART 5: Conclusions and Implications 12. William E. DeMars and Dennis Dijkzeul - Conclusions and Implications: NGO Research and International Relations Theory

It has become commonplace to observe the growing pervasiveness and impact of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). And yet the three central approaches in International Relations (IR) theory, Liberalism, Realism and Constructivism, overlook or ignore the importance of NGOs, both theoretically and politically.
Offering a timely reappraisal of NGOs, and a parallel reappraisal of theory in IR-the academic discipline entrusted with revealing and explaining world politics, this book uses practice theory, global governance, and new institutionalism to theorize NGO accountability and analyze the history of NGOs. This study uses evidence from empirical data from Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia and from studies that range across the issue-areas of peacebuilding, ethnic reconciliation, and labor rights to show IR theory has often prejudged and misread the agency of NGOs. ¿
Drawing together a group of leading international relations theorists, this book explores the frontiers of new research on the role of such forces in world politics and is required reading for students, NGO activists, and policy-makers.