Community at the border or the boundaries of community? The case of EU field diplomats

Abstract

This article contributes to the communities of practice (CoP) literature by focusing on the neglected role of the boundary in constructing community. It takes issue with advocates of International Relations' (IR) most recent 'practice turn' who have overrated inclusive practices of linking to the detriment of taking account of exclusive practices of demarcation. A conceptual turn to the boundary, understood as a 'site of difference', highlights how the two sets of practices operate simultaneously in creating shared senses of belonging to a community. The article empirically probes this turn to the boundary by studying how the postmodern community of the European Union (EU) is (re)constructed by EU diplomats in its neighbouring state Ukraine. As a borderland, it symbolises an interstitial zone of high connectivity where the EU's otherwise latent order is unearthed. A reconstructive analysis of interviews with members of this 'community of practice' reveals that they function as 'boundary workers' who engage in both boundary-spanning and boundary-drawing practices on an everyday basis. Zooming in on the 'boundary work' by EU diplomats exposes the complex process of community-building and thereby helps grasp community as an emergent structure of possibilities whose meaning is contextually mediated by its members' social experience of the boundary.

Taking Stock of Integration Theory

“…Given the constant security threat in world politics, the "cost of non-Europe" remains too high, as it were (Wallace 1998). This is well demonstrated by current security crises at the EU's borders, especially, with the ongoing Ukraine crisis (Hofius 2016). While six decades ago, the decision to build joint institutions was established to counter security threats, now crises are analysed against the backdrop of these institutions' capability to address them.…”

13. Taking Stock of Integration Theory

“…Given the constant security threat in world politics, the "cost of non-Europe" remains too high, as it were (Wallace 1998). This is well demonstrated by current security crises at the EU's borders, especially, with the ongoing Ukraine crisis (Hofius 2016). While six decades ago, the decision to build joint institutions was established to counter security threats, now crises are analysed against the backdrop of these institutions' capability to address them.…”

Is conflict prevention a science, craft, or art? Moving beyond technocracy and wishful thinking

“…Those rules may help to create, but not by itself make up, such an organisational culture. Studying European diplomats in Kiev, Hofius (2016), for example, finds that their "boundary work" created a common European diplomatic community in Ukraine. Accordingly, beliefs, practices, and other taken-for-granted knowledge that staff members hold about their organisation (Allison and Zelikow, 1999, p. 153) deserve more attention in the study of organisational aspects of prevention.…”

“…Through regular briefings, it provides a platform for embassies and high commissions to create a shared analysis. Coordination practices may create a sense of community(Hofius, 2016), where diplomats confirm their respective assessments of a political situation, not the least because they tend to have the same channels of information. Seemingly small issues like how diplomats come to work every day, can have a ripple effect on their exposure to rumours and information sources beyond established networks that may overemphasize stability and government narratives…”