Performing Theory/Theorizing Performance in Emergent Supranational Governance: The ‘Live’ Knowledge Archive of European Integration and the Early European Commission

Abstract

This article considers the entanglement of theories of international politics and international economics on the one hand and an emergent supranational policy actor on the other. The formation of the European Communities in the late 1950s and early 1960s is well known as a moment of radical supranational institutional creation. This is a period in which both economists and political scientists sought to theorize the processes of regional integration as it was happening. The article shows that the newly-formed European Commission, in both its communicative and coordinative discourse, drew selectively on the 'live' knowledge archive of both international economics and international relations to generate a strategic narrative about what European economic integration entailed, how it would be accomplished and (crucially) what kind of actor it was. At the same time, the semi-inductive quality of academic knowledge production meant that the Commission's activities were simultaneously being theorized into the live archive from which it was drawing. The paper examines the influence of two bodies of theory: one from economics (Balassa's theory of international economic integration), and the other from political science (neofunctionalism). The former is a striking influence on early discussions, initiated by the Commission, on monetary union, but its finger prints are rather more enduring -being visible in Commission communicative discourse well into the 1970s.

Field of Dreams: the Discursive Construction of EU Studies, Intellectual Dissidence and the Practice of ‘Normal Science’

“…This also matters because of the complex ways in which EU studies interacts with and provides knowledge for the EU itself (see Adler‐Nissen and Kropp ). This complex relationship also prevailed during the 1960s (White ; Rosamond ; Mudge and Vauchez ).…”

The EU and the social sciences: A fragile relationship

“…The relationship between social-science knowledge and European integration processes goes back at least to the 1950s and 1960s during the earliest attempts to integrate Europe -or at least Western Europe -politically and economically. Here, we find a close dialogue between bureaucrats in the newly established EC and scientific researchers; furthermore, social-science ideas were used both to guide actions and to legitimize the EU (Rosamond, 2015;White, 2003). However, it was not until the 1970s that social-science knowledge production was institutionalized in relation to 'European politics'.…”

“…Literature on the history of European integration shows that socialscience knowledge has played an important role throughout the history of the EU. This includes the role played by a legal scholar in building up the EU legal framework, and of economists in organizing the Single Market and the EURO (McNamara, 1999;Rosamond, 2015;Vauchez, 2008). However, similar connections exist for fields such as education, statistics and information policy (Aldrin, 2010;Deem, 2015;Penissat & Rowell, 2015).…”

Methodological Europeanism at the Cradle: Eur-lex, theAcquisand the Making of Europe’s Cognitive Equipment

“…5 Tracking this historical process (this genealogy) requires a methodology that seizes the doctrinal but also methodological entrepreneurs that have contributed to establishing Europe's cognitive and technical equipment. While a new strand of scholarship has recently unearthed the importance of doctrinal entrepreneurs in shaping Europe's foundational pillars such as 'functionalism' (Rosamond 2015;White 2003), 'constitution' (Cohen 2010;Vauchez 2010), 'governance' (Georgakakis and de Lassalle 2012) or 'single market' (Mudge and Vauchez 2012), the role of methodological entrepreneurs shaping the related techniques of data production and collection (historical archives, economic statistics, legal compendia, diplomatic customaries, etc.) has still been given very little attention.…”