Dec 16, 2025
Book Presentation: The Politics of Beginning: The Origin of Private Authority in the Process of Translation
“With The Politics of Beginning, Alejandro Esguerra delivers a tremendously persuasive prequel to interdisciplinary scholarship on the privatization of international politics. He presents an utterly fascinating take on ‘private authority in the making,’ placing struggles over representation, expertise, and legitimacy center-stage in the analysis of the constitutional moments of global forest governance.” – Anna Holzscheiter, TU Dresden
The book The Politics of Beginning reconstructs the emergence of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as a pivotal private authority in forestry certification. Starting from the forest-political conflicts and protests of the late 1980s, Alejandro Esguerra analyzes the establishment of this institution. A core element of the investigation involves audio recordings of the 1993 founding assembly, through which the collaboration between timber merchants, Indigenous communities, and NGOs is examined.
Theoretically, the work applies the concept of ‘translation’ from Actor-Network Theory to International Relations. It demonstrates how knowledge about governance is contextualized and identifies the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion that operate within this process. Finally, the book outlines the conditions under which formerly antagonistic actors can develop a common political project.
The author, Dr. Alejandro Esguerra, will personally present his work and provide insights into his research. We invite you to join us for the presentation and an engaging discussion.
- Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2026
- Time: 16:40 – 18:10
- Venue: ABS Building (Haus 116), Room 03-007 (August-Bebel-Straße 30, 01209 Dresden)
- The event will be held in English.
The book is available here as Open Access.