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Africa–EU Relations and Normative Power Europe: A Decolonial Pan‐African Critique

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  • Ueli Staeger

Abstract

The debate on NPE (Normative Power Europe) has flourished for more than a decade. NPE has shaped Africa–EU relations considerably, especially since the founding of the AU (African Union). Yet while the EU aspires to be a post‐imperial, normative power, this postcolonial critique suggests NPE is a neo‐Kantian, Eurocentric discourse that reinvigorates an outdated European moral paternalism. The article explores the role of NPE in Africa–EU relations through a Foucauldian conceptualization of knowledge in EU foreign policy, and insists particularly on how pan‐African regionalization and NPE led to unwarranted optimism about deploying European norms in Africa. To the contrary, a decolonial perspective reveals that AU–EU inter‐regional structural and organizational convergence enchains only frail normative convergence, which will diminish as the pan‐African project unfolds further.

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  • Ueli Staeger, 2016. "Africa–EU Relations and Normative Power Europe: A Decolonial Pan‐African Critique," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 981-998, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:54:y:2016:i:4:p:981-998
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12350
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ian Manners, 2002. "Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 235-258, June.
    2. Richard Youngs, 2004. "Normative Dynamics and Strategic Interests in the EU's External Identity," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 415-435, June.
    3. Ian Klinke, 2012. "Postmodern Geopolitics? The European Union Eyes Russia," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(5), pages 929-947.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Keukeleire & Sharon Lecocq & Frédéric Volpi, 2021. "Decentring Norms in EU Relations with the Southern Neighbourhood," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 891-908, July.
    2. Gurminder K. Bhambra, 2022. "A Decolonial Project for Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 229-244, March.

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