Abstract
A system of global health governance has emerged which seeks to improve global health protection and thereby contribute to the realisation of a more ‘equal, just and resilient world’. In so doing, it is required to exert authority, as any attempt to govern, in any context, must. And this exertion of authority has to be justified: in order for authority to be accepted, there must be a plausible basis for its existence. Borrowing from the remarks of Alexandre Kojève on the subject of authority, published after his death, this chapter makes the case that the system of global health governance justifies its authority on the basis of a claim to possess a project for responding to the future – and, particularly, future risk. And this analysis, the chapter shows, provides us with the opportunity to subject the system to critique and imagine other ways in which global health could be protected.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Emergency Regimes for Global Health |
| Subtitle of host publication | Law, Policy and Institutions |
| Place of Publication | Cheltenham |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 12 May 2025 |
Keywords
- authority
- global governance
- global health security
- Alexandre Kojève
- World Health Organisation
- risk