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This project departs from the observation that legitimacy has become important for international institutions but is also strongly contested. Far from constituting a ‘property’ of international institutions, legitimacy is performed and disputed through discursive practices. While international organizations seek legitimacy, states and other actors engage in dynamic processes of (de-)legitimation. Legitimacy talk is utilised as a tool for political contestation, but can also serve important mediating functions. Rethinking the legitimacy of international institutions needs to take into account two key dimensions: the meanings attached to concepts of legitimacy as they play out in political disputes, and its capacity for adaptation and change over time.

A shifting distribution of international power is a fundamental contemporary trend. Emerging powers are changing the global balance of power, altering the character of the global political economy, and bringing new interests and ideas into the international arena. At the same time, international politics is characterized by a growing number of international institutions. These range from formal intergovernmental organizations like the WTO and IMF, to informal clubs like the G7, BRICS and IBSA forums, to commonly accepted ideas and norms. Few of these institutions are unaffected by the economic shift towards emerging markets or by the power shift between national governments.