dc.description.abstract | This article studies the construction of ideals and images associated with Europe
and the European Union by non-state actors (social movements, trade unions and
NGOs) based outside Europe. First, we analyse the external image of Europe and
the EU through the content analysis of meaning attributed to the EU and EU politics
on the homepages of non-EU NGOs, trade unions and social movements within
the global justice movements. Secondly, we study the perspective of non-Western
European activists within the European Social Forum process as a transnational
forum ‘from below’ for ‘another’ Europe. The European Union seen from outside
is an ambivalent powerful political community with both a hegemonic but also a
socially transformative and democratic aspiration. While internal EU organizations
and groups claim the internal democratization of Europe, activists based outside the
EU see it as an important external ally for the implementation of human rights and
democratization (or gender equality), though they are very critical on materialistic
issues, such as trade relationships. | en |