Deconstructing the EU’s “Standards of Civilisation”: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

Arguing that the European Union’s (EU) imposition of its norms and values on Turkey is a continuation of the logic of “European standards of civilisation”, this article offers a second reading of European discourses about Turkey. It regards enlargement conditionality as an apparatus through which the EU constructs its own identity as “ideal” and its others as imperfect. Thus, it attempts to deconstruct the EU’s standards of civilisation through three major lines on which they are built: the authoritative application of standards, unequal treatment and a geopolitical approach – as set by Hartmut Behr in 2007.

Keywords

European Union, Turkey, Standards of Civilisation, Foreign Policy, Deconstruction

Citation

Cebeci, Münevver, “Deconstructing the EU’s “Standards of Civilisation”: The Case of Turkey“, Journal of International Relations, Vol. 16, No. 64, 2019, pp. 77-91, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.652949

Affiliations

• Münevver CEBECİ, Prof. Dr., Marmara University, Institute of European Studies