Power in discursive practices

The case of the STOP EPAs campaign

Bibliographic Data

ID6060876
AuthorsCelina Del Felice (Radboud University, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume20
Issue1
Pages145-167
Publication date2014-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of International Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0661 • E-ISSN: 1460-3713
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354066112437769
OpenAlexW2138985808
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited28

Transnational activism has increased in relation to international trade and development politics in the past decades, yet their power has been inadequately studied. This article analyses the STOP EPAs campaign (2004–2009) which aimed to influence the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It is analysed through a framework in which decisional and discursive power converge. It is argued that the campaign contributed to shaping the negotiations’ discursive practices and, thus, helped to frame what was possible in terms of decisions. It did so by both reproducing and challenging underlying assumptions of trade and development policies, fostering the inclusion of more voices and issues in debates, and shaping subjects’ identities. It was in the ‘play of practice’ that activism opened limited but important spaces for change, as observed in the discussions over what a pro-development World Trade Organization-compatible free trade agreement would entail

Critical discourse analysis · Discourse analysis · Economics · European union · General partnership · International trade · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · International Development and Aid · Law · World Trade Organization Law

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