Ideas, power and change: explaining EU–Russia energy relations

Power through, over and in ideas: conceptualizing ideational power in discursive institutionalism

“…Blyth (2001: 4), for example, argues that the possession and promulgation of ideas that serve to define a given moment of crisis and project the institutional forms that will resolve it becomes 'a crucial power resource', while Cox (2001: 471, 485) analyses the 'path-shaping power of ideas' as well as the 'powerful legitimizing impact' of ideas on reform proposals. And, unsurprisingly, examples of scholars who connect the promotion of policy ideas with a more general notion of political or social power are legion (to name but a few : Beland 2009;Campbell 1998;Hay and Rosamond 2002;Kingdon 1984;Kuzemko 2014;Parsons 2002). To distinguish more clearly between the general claim that ideas matter in politics, and the more specific argument that one significant way ideas matter is through agents' promotion of certain ideas at the expense of the ideas of others, this contribution develops the concept of ideational power.…”

Nexus-thinking in international political economy: what energy and natural resource scholarship can offer international political economy

“…Consequently, it has been criticised for its continuing weakness in conceptualising the political economy of energy, from a range of institutionalist, sociological and discursive directions (Keating et al 2012;Kuzemko 2013;2014a;2014b).…”

Challenging Reductionism in Analyses of EU-Russia Energy Relations

“…21 Similarly, Kuzemko makes the claim that 'policy differences are based not just on interests and material capabilities, but also on varying understandings of energy, its role in society and how it should be governed'. 22 There is a myriad of conceptual expositions which highlight the different logics that underpin actions in favour of greater energy security, document the different disciplinary understandings of this concept, and examine the different ways in which energy security problems play out in different geographical contexts. 23 This is not to say that the concept of energy security has been fundamentally misunderstood or that it is ultimately meaningless within EURussian relations.…”