Eternal potential? Temporality, complexity and the incoherent power of the European Union

Holden, Patrick

doi:10.1177/0010836716668786

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…While the success of Chinese efforts to proactively shape Eurasian trade from the top down is far from guaranteed, the OBOR symbolises a new level of interventionist (non-market led) economic diplomacy. The EU could be expected to react to the changes in the global political economy as other actors have, although the EU has tended to operate on different processes and timescapes (Holden 2016) to conventional international actors. Superficially at least, over this time period the European Union's external posture has also evolved from being essentially universalist/globalist to a more defensive engagement with the world.…”

Section: The Changing Global Political Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Irreconcilable Tensions? The EU’s Development Policy in an Era of Global Illiberalism.

Holden¹

2020

JCER

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There have always been tensions within the EU's external development policy between ethical and self-interested approaches and also between universalist and realpolitik policies. The EU's structural economic power and global neoliberal dominance have allowed these tensions to be subsumed within its external policies. A range of factors has contributed to the rise of illiberalism globally, leading to heightened geoeconomic rivalry while complex changes in global development governance facilitate the use of aid as an instrument of political and economic self-interest. The EU has reacted to this by re-framing its political approach and policies in an effort to rebalance values and interests. A new realism entered EU discourse and there is evidence of this being applied in specific instruments and policies analysed here. Blended finance instruments are 'dual use' in that they can be used for more flexible development policies but also to support EU businesses more directly. The proposal to combine nearly all of the previous aid and cooperation instruments into one single legal instrument will also give the EU unprecedented flexibility to use aid funds for various political purposes. These changes are part of a more complex iterative process in the case of the EU than for other international actors. Interests and values are being reconfigured rather than jettisoned in a 'realist turn'. However, they still represent a significant adjustment for the EU in terms of aid priorities and modalities.

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Section: The Changing Global Political Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Irreconcilable Tensions? The EU’s Development Policy in an Era of Global Illiberalism.

Holden¹

2020

JCER

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“…(Interview 2)There exists another disconnect (or decoupling) between the liberal time‐scape of EU foreign policy and that required by resilience approaches. While the EU's liberal understanding of international relations is still based on a linear time‐scape of transformation and modernization (Holden, , pp. 416–18), this clashes with the assumptions of complexity and uncertainty of resilience‐thinking.…”

Section: Translating the Resilience Discourse: Path Dependence Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience as an Emergent European Project? The EU's Place in the Resilience Turn

Joseph

Juncos

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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This article looks at the development of the resilience approach in EU foreign policy. Building state and societal resilience in the EU's neighbourhood has been identified as one of the key priorities in the EU global strategy. Here we critically analyse these developments and seek to provide an account of the complex dynamics within which the EU's approach to resilience is located. We argue that EU resilience-thinking is influenced by three broad dynamicsthe neoliberal and Anglo-Saxon approaches to resilience in the sphere of global governance; the particular normative discourse of the EU as a certain type of global actor (the EU as a normative/liberal power); and the multilevel character of the EU with its complex institutional structure and path dependencies which results in decoupling. As a consequence, the 'translation' of resilience constitutes an emergent project at the EU level, but also brings with it new challenges. The argument will be illustrated through a study of the EU global strategy and the Joint Communication on resilience in the neighbourhood.

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“…While many of the processes that entrench donor practices have been well examined, there has been limited introspection into how donors' relationship to time and “timescapes” shapes employees' incentives and reproduces power structures and processes that limit progress on localization. According to Holden, “[t]he concept of timescape refers to the temporal timeframe of institutional processes” (Holden 2016: 407). Timescapes provide insights into a shared conceptual understanding of power and into incentives that define different institutions, policies, and actions (Holden 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Holden, “[t]he concept of timescape refers to the temporal timeframe of institutional processes” (Holden 2016: 407). Timescapes provide insights into a shared conceptual understanding of power and into incentives that define different institutions, policies, and actions (Holden 2016). Understanding how donor organizations' timescapes create structures to which individual preferences respond helps us understand international aid structures, donor decision‐making, and challenges to advancing local funding commitments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Time on Donor Behavior and Processes in Relation to Localization

Stanley,

Connolly

2023

Negotiation Journal

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The growing rhetorical commitment to localizing international aid sits in contrast to the lack of change in the amount of funding going to locally based organizations. The increased focus on localization spotlights the inherent challenges within the international aid system and donor organizations' inability to adapt their practices to make genuine change. A critical barrier to substantial change is related to the concept of time. Donors' conceptualization of time significantly impacts organizational incentives and individuals' preferences. This article examines how donors' understanding of time manifests through concepts of productivity and efficiency, deadlines and their implications on decision‐making, and donor fatigue. A focus on donor practice is supported by the concept of timescapes, or the institutional conceptualizations of time that define practice and create different power dynamics. Through the analysis, the article describes how donor timescapes create organizational and individual behaviors that work against the localization agenda. The article concludes by offering suggestions for mitigating these organizational behavior dynamics so that donor incentives and practices are better aligned with their localization commitments.

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Eternal potential? Temporality, complexity and the incoherent power of the European Union

Cited by 5 publications

References 50 publications

Irreconcilable Tensions? The EU’s Development Policy in an Era of Global Illiberalism.

Irreconcilable Tensions? The EU’s Development Policy in an Era of Global Illiberalism.

Resilience as an Emergent European Project? The EU's Place in the Resilience Turn

Implications of Time on Donor Behavior and Processes in Relation to Localization

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