About us

The Global Governance Centre (GGC) is a community of faculty, researchers, visiting fellows and associates, students, and staff from the Graduate Institute and beyond bound by a common interest in the study and practice of global governance. Inaugurated in November 2017, and building on the Programme for International Governance that was set up in 2011, the Global Governance Centre is the Graduate Institute’s forum for critical reflection on the study and practice of global governance. The Centre is co-directed by James Hollway, Associate Professor of International Relations/Political Science and Lucile Maertens, Professor of International Relations/Political Science. 

The Global Governance Centre’s mission and identity includes triggering, supporting and showcasing research and academic discussion that are:

• Beyond state-of-the-art - We promote deeper reflection on visible and invisible problems of global governance, encouraging research on informal global governance processes and ways of doing ‘politics through other means’ and the development of novel and creative ideas.
• Critical - We encourage research and discussions beyond questions of ‘what works?’ or ‘what is effective?’ and instead stimulate reexamination of existing discourses, orthodoxies, or practices. 
• Inter/transdisciplinary - We aim to bridge research conducted in the Graduate Institute’s different academic departments and stimulate new crosscutting research.
• Relevant – Leveraging the Centre’s location in International Geneva, we promote research that addresses or reveals problems of global governance and engage with the diverse actors of Geneva.
• Inclusive - We aim to promote research and discussions that are inclusive of scholars across disciplines, career stages, genders, and geographic and cultural origins.