Telling and acting identity

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical approach to investigate the European Union’s identity as a provider of peace operations, i.e. its Common Security and Defence Policy identity (CSDP). Analysing the discursive construction of the EU’s CSDP identity enables to understand (i) what kind of actor the EU is in terms of conducting peace operations vis-à-vis other actors in the field; and (ii) how the EU affects and is affected by the character of the global “enterprise” of peacebuilding. The EU’s CSDP identity is seen as a process of becoming that is continuously told and acted. Taking cue from a pluralist approach to discourse analysis I explore how through the twin-processes oftellingandactingidentity it is possible to unravel the EU’s role identity in conducting peace operations. The purpose of this paper is to lay the theoretical groundwork for studying the EU’s CSDP identity, utilising operation Artemis as a case study.