Objective/Context:

The article aims to discuss the concept of global governance as an analytical approach to international relations, by analyzing the components, scope and criticism Michael Zürn´s book A Theory of Global Governance: Authority, Legitimacy and Contestation, published in 2018. It proposes to discern the theoretical and conceptual innovations introduced in the book, and then to consider its criticism. On the one hand, the article analyzes the responses that the book received in the March 2021 issue of International Theory ; on the other hand, it explores the conceptual bridges between this work and the debate on global governance in Latin America, finding correlations between them.

Methodology:

This study is based on a discussion of secondary sources, resulting from a review of academic bibliography.

Conclusions:

The work suggests that the approach developed by Zürn expands the possibilities of theorizing about the transformation processes that take place on the international scene, revaluing the global governance approach as an analytical tool. It introduces in the analysis aspects that remain unexplained by traditional approaches. At the same time, it does not ignore the role of power, politicization and ambiguities in the international order. It manages to identify conceptual bridges with the Latin-American theoretical discussions.

Originality:

The article synthesizes the discussions around a recent work that introduces innovations regarding the use of global governance as an analytical approach, and links them to the debates in Latin American academia on this concept, deriving into a renewed approach to both its criticism and its explanatory capabilities.