The decentering agenda : a post-colonial approach to EU External Action

Abstract

Mainstream studies of European Union (EU) external action are typically Eurocentric, neglecting the perspectives of many to whom such action is directed. This chapter explores the challenges of ‘decentring’ EU external action by importing insights from post-colonial studies into what we call ‘Global EU External Action Studies’. We suggest that when it comes to the EU, the ‘post’ in post-colonialism can refer to two distinct meanings. Analytically, ‘post’-colonial practices refer to the reproduction of hierarchical logics. Normatively, ‘post’-colonialism refers to the desirable transcendence of these logics. We propose a three-step approach to decentring as strategy towards a post colonial Europe in the second sense: ‘provincializing’ the EU’s experience, ‘engaging’ others’ views, and ‘reconstructing’ EU external action. We then turn to sites where the EU’s external relations have been characteristically Eurocentric, namely Turkey and the Middle East and North Africa. We conclude by identifying possible pathways to reconstructing relations in a ‘multilogical’ fashion.