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Annika Björkdahl

Annika Björkdahl

Professor

Annika Björkdahl

Towards a reflexive study of norms, norm diffusion and identity (re-)construction: The transformative power of the EU in the Western Balkans

Author

  • Annika Björkdahl

Summary, in English

The “constructivist turn” in International Relations has enhanced our understanding of the power of ideational phenomena such as ideas, norms and identity in world politics . This turn also paved the way for debates on normative power and norm transfer, which have proved to offer fruitful insights into EU normative power and the EU’s identity as an international actor. Exploring the modes of governance the EU claims to use instead of so-called “hard power”, as well as others’ perceptions of the normative power of the EU are now well-established research areas in EU studies. Ten years after the “Normative Power Europe” approach (NPE) was coined by Ian Manners , it seems time to revisit NPE and the constructivist turn in International Relations . This article hopes to add to the promising developments by critically exploring the relationship between processes of norm diffusion and identity (re-)construction (Risse and Wiener 2001; Diez 2005; Börtzel and Risse 2012a; 2012b). Three strands of research provide us with a critical understanding of the relationship between EU norm export and local agency in norm import and in the construction of a European identity. The analysis is informed by social constructivism, taps into the rich literature on EU identity and Europeanness, while scratching the surface of the body of literature on norm diffusion

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Pages

33-51

Publication/Series

Canterbury Law Review

Volume

18

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

University of Canterbury * School of Law

Topic

  • Political Science

Keywords

  • norms
  • identity
  • normative power
  • EU
  • Western Balkans

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0112-0581