National Interest Groups and Transnational Governance: Brazilian Sugarcane Producers and Biofuel Standards

Guilherme Arbache; Danilo Freire; Pietro Rodrigues

doi:10.22151/politikon.29.1

Authors

Guilherme Arbache University of São Paulo
Danilo Freire King’s College London
Pietro Rodrigues University of São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.29.1

Keywords:

biofuel, Brazil, ethanol, private governance, regulatory capability

Abstract

How does the Brazilian sugarcane sector act towards transnational private governance initiatives on biofuels? Brazil is one of the world’s largest biofuel producers, and since the 1970s sugarcane ethanol production has expanded with the help of the federal government. The developed nations' rising demands for higher social and environmental standards have fostered the emergence of new governance mechanisms that affect biofuel-producing countries, which in turn have started to engage in private initiatives to regulate their economic activities through transnational certiﬁcates. This article aims to analyse the strategic interaction amongst Brazilian actors involved in biofuel production. Our goal is to explain: a) what are the conditions that have based the agents' ability to act in the international arena, and b) how they have inﬂuenced the international standards for biofuels. Building upon Büthe e Mattli's (2011) Institutional Complementarity Theory, as well as Caffagi e Pistor's (2013) normative concept of regulatory capability, we argue that a trend of geographical and economic concentration and homogeneity in Brazilian sugarcane production helped to create the conditions for Brazilian producers to adhere and influence the standards of Bonsucro (the most important private international regulation for sugarcane ethanol). Then, we suggest paths for further research on that issue, so that we can confirm these claims.

Author Biographies

Guilherme Arbache, University of São Paulo

Guilherme Arbache, 31, born in São Paulo, Brazil, has a BA and a MA from the Department of Political Science, University of São Paulo. Guilherme’s research is focused on political participation, political culture, voting patterns, and private governance.

Danilo Freire, King’s College London

Danilo Freire, 32, also a Brazilian national, is a PhD candidate in Political Economy at King’s College London. Freire holds a BA and a MA in Political Science from the University of São Paulo and a MA in International Relations at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. His main topics of interest are civil wars, political violence, prison gangs, and research methods, particularly Bayesian inference and agent-based modelling.

Pietro Rodrigues, University of São Paulo

Pietro Rodrigues, 28, born in Sorocaba (Brazil), is a PhD candidate in the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo. Pietro hold a BA in Social Sciences and a MA in Political Science from the same institution. He is interested in the intersection between business and politics, especially international political economy and international private governance.