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2017 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

Gaps in EU Foreign Policy

The Role of Concepts in European Studies

Author: Henrik Larsen

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This book argues that theories of European foreign policy are performative: they create the objects they analyse. In this text, Larsen outlines the performativity approach to the role of theories based on the work of Derrida and goes on to examine the performative role of Christopher Hill's concept of Capability-Expectations Gap in the study of European foreign policy. Through examples from relevant literature, Larsen not only demonstrates how this concept sets up standards for the EU as a foreign policy actor (that are not met by most other international actors) but also shows how this curtails analysis of EU foreign policy. The author goes on to discuss how the widespread use of the concept of ‘gap' affects the way in which EU foreign policy has been studied; and that it always produces the same result: the EU is an unfulfilled actor outside the realm of “normal” actors in IR. This volume offers new perspectives on European foreign policy research and advice and serves as an invaluable resource for students of EU foreign policy and, more broadly, European Studies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
1. Introduction
Abstract
The chapter proposes that a constitutive approach to analysing the role of theories drawing on the concept of performativity can be used to great advantage in the study of the role of theories on European foreign policy. The focus is on how the articulation of the concept of capability-expectations gap (CEG), first formulated by Christopher Hill in 1993, has shaped the way in which EU foreign policy has been studied. The argument is that, when the CEG concept is used in analyses of the EU foreign policy, it draws on a gap discourse which constructs the EU as a foreign policy actor with particular problems.
Henrik Larsen
2. The Performativity of Theories
Abstract
The concept of performativity, it is argued in this chapter, is a helpful concept to analyse the constitutive role of theories. First the concept’s background in Austin’s speech act theory is outlined. In the next section, Derrida’s conceptualization of performativity is presented by way of his critique of Austin’s speech act theory. In the third section, Derrida’s concept of double reading is described. The purpose is to provide a lens for examining which reading of a conceptual framework – in the case of this book, the capability-expectations gap (CEG) – is performative. The final section outlines the analytical strategy to be used in the subsequent chapters.
Henrik Larsen
3. The Capability-Expectations Gap: A Double Reading
Abstract
This chapter first analyses the principal texts in which Hill describes the Capability-Expectations Gap (CEG). The aim is to identify the dominant discourse in these texts. The chapter then turns to a deconstructivist reading of the texts. The aim here is to identify tensions in the texts that challenge the dominant discourse in the first reading of Hill’s texts. The purpose is to carry out a double reading of the texts on the CEG. The double reading draws on the theoretical considerations in Chapter 2.
Henrik Larsen
4. The Performativity of the Capability-Expectations Gap
Abstract
The chapter examines how Hill’s writings on the capability-expectations gap (CEG) have been picked up, concentrating on the performative role of the concept of CEG. The chapter first outlines the quantitative side of the dissemination of Hill’s CEG concept, and then turns to a qualitative analysis of the ways in which the articulation of the CEG concept have been performative in promoting meanings along the lines of the gap discourse. The main point is that the dominant discourse on the CEG in Hill’s writings has framed and shaped the subsequent use of the concept of CEG. No publications referring to Hill’s writing on the CEG have touched on the destabilizing elements presented in the deconstructive reading in Chapter 3 or any other criticism for that sake. Even ideas for transforming the concept (credibility gap, consensus gap, legitimacy gap, expectations deficit, communication deficit, etc.) have been formulated within the dominant gap discourse.
Henrik Larsen
5. Implications of the Gap Discourse for the Study of (European) Foreign Policy and European Studies
Abstract
The focus of this chapter is on the broader implications of the gap discourse within which the analytical use of the capability-expectations gap (CEG) and other gaps and deficits are embedded. It reflects on the implications for the study of European foreign policy, national foreign policy and European studies more broadly. One concrete implication of the gap discourse, it is argued, may be the limited number of text books which analyse the making of EU foreign policy. Moreover, it is proposed that the gap discourse reinforces an ahistorical ideal type of the state in foreign policy analysis. Finally, it is argued that other references to “deficits” in European studies carry with them many of the same connotations as in the gap discourse.
Henrik Larsen
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Gaps in EU Foreign Policy
Author
Henrik Larsen
Copyright Year
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-1-349-95166-6
Print ISBN
978-1-349-95165-9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95166-6