In the social sciences, politics and markets are usually studied as separate systems. In recent decades, however, market actors are entering into partnerships with state actors to regulate areas previously considered as pertaining to the state, and to politics. These changes can in general terms be described as a move towards governance, and more specifically as the development of a new public domain in which the boundaries between the two systems are not as clear.

Govemark is a network project with the purpose of stimulating research on market-based actors (such as transnational corporations and their research institutes and think tanks) and their activities within a global public domain. Research questions for the network concern the organizational attempts to frame the decision-making agenda on behalf of these kinds of actors. How do they create authority and legitimacy for themselves as political actors? What do the global organizational forms look like: who takes part, what issues do they pursue, and what solutions are put forward? How do actors balance economic rationality and social responsibility? How do they balance market priorities and political priorities?

The network is led by Christina Garsten in collaboration with Adrienne Sörbom (Score). Partners are Bo Rothstein (University of Gothenburg), Peter Miller (CARR, London School of Economics), Hervé Dumez (Centre de Recherche en Gestion, CNRS), and Melissa Fisher (New York University). The network is financed by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond).