Ulrich Brand Order and Formation

Under the heading of “global governance” a discussion is taking place on changes in the political, and thus in political regulation, particularly at the international level. In this contribution global governance in its “European social-democratic” variation is understood as a discourse which is a part of the search process of emerging postFordist politics and its substantiation. This takes place on the basis of the Foucault concept of discourse. After this, it is shown with respect to two number dimensions (globalization and world problems) how global governance is articulated in the dominant transformations of the political, our understanding of the structures of these transformations being based on regulation theory. It becomes clear that this discourse, which legitimizes societal developments and provides a guide for behaviour, is not at all in contradiction to the post-Fordist neoliberal transformation of society, but rather that it serves to make the handling of globalization-induced crises more effective. The text aims neither to represent a contribution to the ontologicalepistemological discussion nor to be a precise analysis of the discourse, but to open up a perspective which should serve to stimulate discussion and research.