Introduction: International Institutions, Public Governance and Future Regulation of Work

This special issue takes the centenary of the International Labour Organization as an occasion to reflect on the roles of international institutions in governing labour standards. While at the time of its creation the ILO played a solitary role as the custodian of international labour standards, the culmination of various experiments with international regulation,1 the ILO today is not the only international institution seeking to exercise governance in relation to the world of work. Instead, a number of institutional actors, both at the global and regional level, have emerged in this area, including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Council of Europe and the European Union. Their activities can complement but often also compete or even conflict with those of the ILO, of which the economic and financial crisis in the Eurozone is a powerful reminder.2 Meanwhile, the ILO has been struggling to ensure consensus among its tripartite constituents in the Post-Cold War-period and continues to be subject to significant internal conflict.3 Indeed, the ILO