Competing Social Forces in Turkey-EU Relations
This research applies neo-Gramscian perspectives with insights from post-structuralism to the Turkish membership question. The membership question is conceived as an open-ended struggle among social forces operative at national and transnational /European levels. I shall argue that the current debate is mainly stuck to the dichotomy between membership or not, that in return is a non-debate as it not only overlooks the ongoing integration of Turkey to European structures but also fails to explain the wavering character of relations between Turkey and the European Union. Moreover, the debate takes Europeanization of Turkey as an isolated process and fails to situate the question of Turkish enlargement within the context of global political economy. Hence, this research aims to fill this gap in the literature by following a neo-Gramscian analytical framework.
It aspires to address three questions. Firstly, how can we account for the wavering character of relations between Turkey and the EU, which is scarcely addressed in the literature? Secondly, how can we develop a neo-Gramscian framework including insights from post-structuralism to analyze Turkey-EU relations? Thirdly, which hegemonic projects are formulated for membership and is there any alternative?
Professor Andreas Bieler and Dr Mark Wenman
Turkish Council of Higher Education
CSSGJ
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European integration
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International Political Economy
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Turkish Politics