The European Union and Belarus

Democracy Promotion by Technocratic Means

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7743751
AutoresElena A Korosteleva, Elena Korosteleva (0000-0002-2807-738X, University of Kent, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume23
Fascículo4
Páginas678-698
Data de publicação2016-06-06
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510347.2015.1005009
OpenAlexW2021553330
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas13
Referências citadas12

Is Belarus an enviable constant in international relations: a maverick, isolated from the West and inseparable from the East? On the surface, there seems to be business as usual: Lukashenko's regime remains unchallenged; Belarus’ relations with the European Union – spasmodic at best; while its absorption into Russia's Eurasian project continues apace. Yet, some critical disjunctures – manifested in government tacit resistance to Russia's influence, and more instructively, in people's growing affinity with Europe – may indicate a sea-change transformation in the very fabric of society. This article, utilizing extensive and subject-focused research, conducted in the country between 2009 and 2013, examines the nature and causalities of the occurring change. It argues that democracy promotion, in Belarus’ case, may work better when depoliticized and inculcated, through norms, regulations, and practices of international order, into the daily lives of individuals. Through its continued technocratic, inclusive, and sector-level engagement, European Union governance, even under the conditions of limited bilateral dialogue, have succeeded in fostering much-needed space for reciprocal learning and critical reasoning, which may have far greater transformative potential than manufacturing a single collective will for democracy building

Democracy · Democracy promotion · Democratization · Economics · European union · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Technocracy · Transformative learning · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · European Politics and Security · European Union Policy and Governance · Law