Maintaining Legitimacy in Global Labor Governance: Legitimation Politics at the International Labour Organization (ILO)

This article analyzes how industrial relations actors maintain legitimacy in global labor governance by investigating the legitimation politics at the International Labour Organization (ILO). Drawing on the concept of legitimacy tests, we identify three strategies that the workers' and employers' groups at the ILO have deployed to maintain their legitimacy: representation, exclusion, and coalitions of convenience. We demonstrate, however, how legitimation‐maintenance by the social partners risks delegitimizing the ILO, potentially impacting its role in global labor governance. Our findings contribute to debates on the disputed nature of legitimacy and the role of industrial relations actors in global labor governance.