EIRSS 2009 – Module I

Theoretical and methodological approaches (15 hours)

The module focuses on the potential of various contemporary International Relations theories (e.g. realism, liberal institutionalism, pluralism, social constructivism, post-structuralism) as well as theories of European integration (e.g. liberal intergovernmentalism, theories of Europeanization) to explain and provide insights into EU-Russian relations. We shall examine the relevance of core IR concepts, such as power, sovereignty, identity, interest, preferences, norms, actorness, agents and structures in the context of EU-Russian relations. The instructors will present the theoretical debates underlying and informing their own research on EU-Russia relations and guide participants in assessing the merits and limitations of these approaches. Specifically, the lectures and seminars will focus on:

  • an overview of existing theoretical frameworks for the study of European-Russian relations; a presentation of an alternative approach that synthesizes the principles of classical political realism with the contemporary post-structuralist critique of cosmopolitanism and global governance (Ass. Prof. Alexander Astrov);
  • the problems of institutionalisation in EU-Russia relations. What accounts for the recurring problems between the EU and Russia? And what do the main strands of IR theory say about it? (Dr. Hiski Haukkala);
  • EU and Russia as international actors; geopolitical subjectivity; English School/international society (Dr. Pami Aalto);
  • the debate between rationalists and constructivists, which plays a formative role for the current state of the discipline of IR. Most common typologies will be introduced and the difficulties involved in using them will be addressed. Key concepts such as identity, norms and intersubjectivity will also be discussed (Dr. Viatcheslav Morozov);
  • a discussion of memory and identity politics in EU-Russia relations, drawing on the insights of social anthropology and critical IR theory; an assessment of the analytical utility of the notion of liminality, a major concept in cultural and social anthropology, for studying the EU-Russia nexus from a Baltic perspective (Dr. Maria Mälksoo).

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