‘This is my EUtopia ...’: Narrative as Power

Nicolaïdis, Kalypso; Howse, Robert

doi:10.1111/1468-5965.00397

Cited by 143 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In this depiction, the EU ultimately exerts international influence by virtue of its success and attractiveness, which is augmented through a specific discursive representation and symbolic practices (Diez and Manners, 2007: 183;Manners, 2006b). Consequently, the EU's self-construction as a successful experiment in regional integration takes pride of place: narrative becomes a source of power, even if it is utopian (Nicolaïdis and Howse, 2002; see also Manners and Whitman, 2003: 385). Mercosur's endorsement of an EU-type common market model in 1991, literally copying EU terminology, is a good example of emulation (see Lenz, 2012b: 160-162).…”

Section: Locating Normative Power In the World Of Diffusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EU normative power and regionalism: Ideational diffusion and its limits

Lenz¹

2013

Cooperation and Conflict

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The ideational impact captured by Manners’s notion of normative power Europe (NPE) appears most distinct and potentially most consequential in the realm of regionalism. However, empirical research on the topic has been hampered by the focus on EU actorness and methodological difficulties. Drawing on diffusion theory, this article develops conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundations for conceiving NPE as ideational diffusion. It argues that Europe’s ideational influence on regionalism can be fruitfully understood as the largely indirect process by which the EU experience travels to other regions through socialization and emulation. Yet, as structural conditions vary across regions, EU ideational diffusion rarely leads to similar or even comparable institutional practices and outcomes. A choice-orientated approach is proposed for examining these claims empirically, which focuses on specifying the underlying counterfactual: political decisions in regionalism would have been different in the absence of the EU. The article concludes by outlining the analytical and normative promise of the proposed recasting of Manners’s original concept.

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Section: Locating Normative Power In the World Of Diffusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EU normative power and regionalism: Ideational diffusion and its limits

Lenz¹

2013

Cooperation and Conflict

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“…Although lacking a clear definition, this concept stresses the 'soft' power exercised by the EU which basically consists in the external projection of its internal virtues through politico-economic (Rosecrance 1998) and normative means (Manners 2002;Nicolaïdis and Howse 2003). From this perspective, association politics and the wider Europe initiative launched in 2003 may be seen as an attempt to expand the neofunctionalist model of peaceful co-operation based on regional economic integration and acceptance of a common set of values such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law (Manners 2002).…”

Section: The Eu As a Civilian Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

EU external governance in 'wider Europe'

Lavenex

2004

Journal of European Public Policy

392

169

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The 'wider Europe' initiative opens the possibility for a far-reaching association of the EU's eastern and southern European neighbours which, by offering 'everything but institutions' (Prodi), proposes an alternative to membership. This article presents this initiative as part of an ambitious external governance agenda by the enlarged Union with the aim to manage its new interdependence in an altered geopolitical context. Focusing on the conception of interdependence and the institutional configuration of EU relations with its near abroad, external governance is defined and examined in three prominent 'soft security' issues: justice and home affairs, environmental and energy policy. It is argued that external governance seeks to expand the 'legal boundary' of the Union with only limited openings of its 'institutional boundary', thereby oscillating between an inclusionary and exclusionary approach towards its near abroad.

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“…(Herman, p. 28 and 30, 2000) Herman goes on to chart the debates among the millenarians about the centralization of power in the EU, the number of members and their (pre)designated roles in 'God's plan'. While such religious analyses proliferate and circulate in popular culture, and narratives about the EU circulate widely in diverse political contexts (Nicolaïdis and Howse, 2002), accounting for and analysing the nature of the EU has also long posed challenges to social sciences. While not quite The Beast of millenarian prophecy, when it comes to theorizing the EU, there is nevertheless a widespread sense that we are dealing with something challenging and new that requires fresh interpretations.…”

Section: An Unknown Beast?mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the nature of the beast: re‐charting political geographies of the european union

Sidaway

2006

Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography

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: On the nature of the beast: Re-charting political geographies of the European Union. Geogr. Ann ., 88 B (1): 1-14.ABSTRACT. This review paper begins with the premise that since the European Union remains a process of construction with no agreed or pre-designated end-point, its power structure is open to a diverse range of interpretations. Moreover, the apparent novelty of the EU renders it hard to characterize according to familiar taxonomies. The novelty lies in part in the complex territorial configurations of authority in the EU. Different conceptualizations of the EU are varied readings of the structure, balance and scales of authority -which thereby invoke different actions and spaces of possibility.

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‘This is my EUtopia ...’: Narrative as Power

Cited by 143 publications

References 17 publications

EU normative power and regionalism: Ideational diffusion and its limits

EU normative power and regionalism: Ideational diffusion and its limits

EU external governance in 'wider Europe'

On the nature of the beast: re‐charting political geographies of the european union

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