Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives

Edited by Richard G. Whitman

Description

Since it was first introduced in 2002 the concept of Normative Power Europe (NPE) has been actively and intensively debated by scholars in the fields of European Studies and International Relations. The theory of NPE promotes the idea of the European Union as an 'ideational' actor in global politics characterised by its attempts to promote a set of common principles, and acting to diffuse norms in International Relations.

This volume brings together an international group of scholars to examine the methodological, theoretical and empirical challenges in the study of the European Union through NPE. Contributors assess the impact that NPE has had to-date. Collectively the contributions offer new theoretical and methodological perspectives on one of the most widely used and influential ideas in the study of the EU of the last decade.

Contents

1. Norms, Power and Europe: A New Agenda for Study of the EU and International Relations;
   R.G. Whitman

PART I: PERSPECTIVES ON POWER

2. Legitimacy Through Norms: The Political Limits to Europe's Normative Power;
   C.J. Bickerton

PART II: NORMS AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

3. The European Union as a Regional Normative Hegemon: The Case of European Neighbourhood Policy
   H. Haukkala
4. Mind the Normative Gap? The EU in the South Caucasus
   E.J. Stewart
5. Power Discourses and Power Practices: the EU's Role as a Normative Power in Bosnia
   A.E. Juncos

PART III: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

6. Normative and Military Power in EU Peace Support Operations
   A. Björkdahl
7. The European Union, the United States and Global Public Goods: Competing Models or Two Sides of the Same Coin?
   M. Smith
8. The EU's Development Policy: Empirical Evidence of 'Normative Power Europe'?
   V.L. Birchfield
9. Promoting Labour Standards Through Trade: Normative Power or Regulatory State Europe?
   J. Orbie

PART IV: FUTURE ORIENTATIONS

10. Human Security and the Search for a Normative Narrative
    M. Martin
11. Normative Power Europe and Conflict Transformation
    T. Diez & M. Pace
12. The European Union's Normative Power: Critical Perspectives and Perspectives on the Critical
    I. Manners