The Interaction Order of the United Nations High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development

Are the United Nation’s (U.N.’s) institutionalized spaces for international diplomacy capable of producing cooperation between states on international issues? This project deconstructs two such spaces using Irving Goffman’s theory of face-work and Habermas’ theory of communicative action in an effort to address this question. Video footage is used to conduct an extractive videographic analysis, documenting the interaction order of two U.N. diplomatic events. This is supplemented by a linguistic analysis of inclusive and exclusive personal pronoun usage by participants at both events. Four main findings are made, in relation to the importance of identity and language within institutionalized spaces for international diplomacy, which are the basis for the recommendations made to encourage more inclusive, engaged and proactive spaces for international diplomacy in the future.