Normative reform through experimentalist implementation processes:tracing the impact of stakeholder involvement in redefining timber legality

This research aims to generate insights about the normative and practical merits of experimentalist governance (EG) processes in practice, in particular in view of accommodating local contestation and deliberation at the implementation stage. By discussing the effects of opening up the regulatory process at the country-level, we wish to look into how experimentalist problem-solving practices can encourage a more democratic and inclusive interpretation of transnational rule-making. Specifically, we plan to look into how broad stakeholder inclusion in the implementation of FLEGT/VPA processes has resulted in a more socially-inclusive reframing of the concept of timber legality in a number of VPA countries. We aim to do so using a theory-testing variant of process-tracing to dissect the causal relationship between enhanced stakeholder involvement and pro-poor institutional reform in forest governance. By looking into how stakeholder involvement in a deliberative experimentalist implementation process plays out in practice, we ultimately hope to generate insights about the challenges that may frustrate experimentalism over time and the scope of its acclaimed potential for critical engagement and reform.