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of everything and not all behaviour fits within the framework; it is not economic determinism by another name. Indeed, this logic is often closely intertwined with, and operates alongside, other political logics, such as the logic of exclusionary identity politics ( Kaldor and de Waal, 2021 ). Moreover, political markets, like all other markets, are socially embedded; societal norms shape the market, and certain actions are clearly proscribed. In South Sudan’s civil war, for instance
The European Union (EU) is faced by the Eurozone crisis, the rise of anti-EU populism and 'Brexit'. In its immediate neighbourhood it is confronted by a range of challenges and threats. This book explores the origins of the term 'Europeanisation' and the way in which its contemporary iteration-EU-isation-has become associated with the normative power of the EU. The concept of European identity is discussed, with an indication that there are different levels of identity of which a European consciousness can be just one. An overview of different mechanisms the EU uses to promote EU-isation in the neighbourhood and a discussion on the limits of conditionality when membership is not on offer is also included. The book discusses these themes in more detail. It powerfully states the salience of Russia in establishing an alternative geopolitical pole to the EU. The presence of Russia as the Eurasian Economic Union appears to play the role of being a way of preserving traditional conservative values in contrast to the uncomfortable challenges of EU-isation. The Balkans' and Turkey's reception of EU-isation is not affected by the experience of being in-betweeners. The book examines the issue of EU-isation and the relationship between values (norms), interests and identity based on various sectors/themes which cut across different neighbours and are core elements in their relations with the EU.
9 Dimitris Tsarouhas Turkey: identity politics and reticent Europeanisation Turkey constitutes a particularly challenging case with regard to Europeanisation studies as well as the importance of identity politics in its relations to the European Union (EU). While Turkey can certainly count itself among Europe’s neighbours, it is also much more than that. A candidate country with EU aspirations, an emerging economy comprising a mostly young and increasingly better educated population, Turkey’s cultural diversity and regional importance make it a particularly
the reforms needed to secure durable peace. There is another reason to emphasise nationality, and a sense of belonging, identity predicated on nationhood – albeit not a nationhood based on exclusive, immutable features – and that is because while the process of globalisation affords some positive goods, it has also brought about tremendous political and economic instability and rupture. In the face of such uncertainty, identity politics in the narrowest sense, predicated on certain immutable features and ideals, assumes a particular potency. Identities are
its constitutive role in identity politics . . . Far from being a natural outgrowth of historical animosities and earlier conflicts, we can think of these issues of ethnicity and nationalism as questions of history violently deployed in the present for contemporary political goals.’37 The basic ethicality associated with deconstruction lies in the fact that its very character is to avoid totalizing, exclusionary goals. For Levinas, the move from the ethical to the political is a totalizing one wherein the universal must be expressed. To recognize deconstruction
identity, political elites draw on histories – fact and fiction – and then project identity claims through the prism of narrative onto audiences; the reaction of the audience then leads to recognition, legitimacy and, in some cases the endorsement of authority. 88 Stories of war in the Balkans and Caucasus Political elites turn to recognisable stories such as epics and tragedies, precisely because they are recognisable and easy to consume. While there is a burgeoning field on the latter in IR, the former provides a useful hook for re-interpreting events in the Balkans
identity politics and craft a more just global society, which once created, makes it ‘virtually impossible to dominate, kill or jail all of your adversaries’. Asmal speaks at length about the importance of what he calls ‘cosmopolitan multiculturalism’ trumping nationalism and narrow or oppressive concepts of sovereignty (which Reiss describes as now ‘contingent’ on good governance), and of the importance of ‘global citizenship … international solidarity’ or activism and ‘global governance’ and ‘harnessing global forces to a politics of hope’ in transcending conflict
, Calcutta. Naipaul,V. S., 1997, ‘A million mutinies’, India Today, 18 August. Naliwal, R. P., 1998, ‘Government calls meeting to discuss Uttarakhand’, The Times of India, 8 April. Narayan, H., 1996, ‘Caste factor gives Laloo a clear edge’, Elections ‘96, The Sunday Statesman, 7 April. Ninan, S., 1992, Media pulse, The Hindu, 20 September. Palkhivala, N., 1996, ‘A state without a nation?’, The Statesman, 30 May. B. Parekh, B., 1994, ‘Discourses on national identity’, Political Studies, 43:2. Phadke,Y. D., 1974, Politics and Language, Himalaya Publishing House, Bombay. Roy
This book explores the evolving African security paradigm in light of the multitude of diverse threats facing the continent and the international community today and in the decades ahead. It challenges current thinking and traditional security constructs as woefully inadequate to meet the real security concerns and needs of African governments in a globalized world. The continent has becoming increasingly integrated into an international security architecture, whereby Africans are just as vulnerable to threats emanating from outside the continent as they are from home-grown ones. Thus, Africa and what happens there, matters more than ever. Through an in-depth examination and analysis of the continent’s most pressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges—from failing states and identity and resource conflict to terrorism, health, and the environment—it provides a solid intellectual foundation, as well as practical examples of the complexities of the modern African security environment. Not only does it assess current progress at the local, regional, and international level in meeting these challenges, it also explores new strategies and tools for more effectively engaging Africans and the global community through the human security approach.
, the concept of ‘being’ Balkan is most often equated with terms such as backwardness, subservience, stagnation, or arrested development. Moreover, the Western world quite often evokes nationalism as an omnipotent driving force behind identity formation in this part of the world, especially in the wake of the wars of the 1990s. This is erroneous on many counts, although denying altogether the nation-centric characteristic of identity politics in the Balkans is, at the same time, not entirely accurate. The prevalence of nationalist narratives in the quest to