‘Governance’: Conceptions and discourses

This attempt at a definition of the contours of the thematic put forward by the IRG is in itself subject to debate and will be progressively refined through future activities on the subject.

The term governance is defined and understood today in a variety of, at times, contradictory ways. The IRG aims to understand how this term has evolved within institutions from the local to the global level, within the institute there is a marked emphasis on the evolution of the notion within international organisations who have pressed for its emergence for the past 20 years. The Institute plans to initiate debate about the use of this term in diverse and even opposed ideological contexts. The IRG also emphasises the conceptualisation, interpretations and cultural misunderstandings that such a term comes up against during its use in cultural traditions as diverse as the Chinese empire, the Arab world, Latin America or sub-Saharan Africa.