Democratising Nuclear Governance: Assessing the role of African transnational civil society in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

Abstract

The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in January 2021 presented a new turn in nuclear politics. It is a monumental instrument in the governance of nuclear weapons because its advocacy was led and managed by non-nuclear-weapon states and transnational civil society groups. This research project assesses the role of transnational civil society in democratising nuclear governance through its contributions to the TPNW. This study has two aims: the first is to explore the role of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in democratising nuclear governance through the TPNW. Secondly, this reveals a case to explore the role of African transnational civil society organisations in ICAN and how they contributed to this democratising process, if at all. Scholte’s (2001) framework of the democratic assessment of transnational civil society in global governance was used to set out the role of the ICAN using the six criteria of awareness, participation, contestation, transparency, accountability and legitimacy. These elements were used to assess ICAN’s involvement in the process and development of the TPNW and how it has enhanced democracy in nuclear governance. Second, the study aims to map the role of African transnational civil society participation within ICAN by looking at three aspects that may undermine civil society’s democratic impact in global governance, specifically whether civil society itself is representative.