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Independent experts with political mandates: ‘Role distance’ in the production of political knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2020

Aurel Niederberger Open the ORCID record for Aurel Niederberger [Opens in a new window]
Aurel Niederberger*
Affiliation:
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Some experts take on political mandates and simultaneously base their authority on a claim to independence: this balancing act enables international organisations (IOs) to incorporate ‘independent’ experts and generate ‘objective’ knowledge around their policies. However, how do these experts reconcile the contradictory roles of a mandated expert and an independent expert? I address this question by taking recourse to Goffman's sociology and two related concepts: sociological ambivalence refers to situations in which a person faces conflicting expectations. This conflict can be remedied through role distance, that is, behaviour that signals a degree of disaffection from the role one is currently performing while one simultaneously continues to perform that role. I conduct a case study of ‘independent’ experts hired by the UN Security Council to monitor sanctions, analysing how their position is sociologically ambivalent and how their knowledge practices are interlaced with performances of role distance. The findings have two implications for macro-phenomena: first, by keeping their contradictory role constellation functional, experts make it possible for IOs to mobilise ‘independent expertise’. Second, because experts perform role distance through the way they produce knowledge, role distance leaves traces in political knowledge.

Keywords

ExpertsGoffmanGlobal GovernanceKnowledgeUN Sanctions
Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of International Security , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , October 2020 , pp. 350 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 2020

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65 This procedure intertwines with measures to protect informants, which are not role distance because they are expected from investigators. Furthermore, this case refers to one of the early investigations into human rights issues undertaken by PoEs; the role of the humanitarian expert on PoEs is among the more recent ones and has likely evolved since.

66 On each PoE, one member is designated coordinator.