Workshop on small states and EU policymaking in the era of polycrisis
The Greek Politics Specialist Group, with the generous support of PSA’s Research and Innovation Fund and in association with the Centre for European Research at Queen Mary University London is opening a call for papers for a two-days’ workshop that will take place at Queen Mary University of London between 11-12 of May 2023.
This workshop seeks to examine the role of Greece and other small EU states in an era of multiple and successive crises. These multiple crises have fundamentally transformed the EU policy system; increased politicization has created new domestic and international cleavages across multiple policy fields from finance to health and foreign policy. The emergence of this phenomenon has rendered policymaking at the EU level particularly challenging.
Scholars have paid attention to the preferences and actions of big member-states in this era. Yet, the role and strategies of small member-states have been overlooked. Because of their limited power resources (population, GDP, military size) and the perception that they are too small to bring systematic EU change, small member states face severe constraints. As such, they usually find themselves particularly vulnerable in the face of crises.
Despite their evident vulnerabilities, small states also possess features that allow them to influence the decision-making process in substantial ways. By being forced to prioritize between policy fields they develop niches of expertise and become more efficient in dealing with nationally salient topics. Their small size allows for more flexibility and informality with respect to their negotiating mandate. Consequently, they can employ more effective bargaining and coalition-building tactics. Given all the above, the era of “permacrisis” brings forward new opportunities and challenges for small states.
The proposed workshop constitutes a first step towards a systematic study of how small states manage to navigate this era of volatility. The workshop aims to bring together scholars working on small states and EU policymaking with different theoretical, empirical, and methodological approaches interested in contributing to the shaping of a common research agenda. As such, it aspires to generate material and discussion that will, subsequently, lead to a special issue proposal.
The workshop will include thematic panels on the following, and related, themes:
- Small states’ strategic positioning across policy fields and between crises
- Patterns of dissensus and coordination between small states
- Institutional change and small states
- Challenges and opportunities for small states (e.g. economic volatility, health, climate, foreign policy, security)
Its overall aim is to offer novel theoretical insights on a still emerging theme in EU studies.
The workshop will bring together academics with an interest in questions around EU politics, EU policymaking, EU integration and disintegration, political economy, international relations, and crisis-management. We wish to particularly encourage comparative, cross-disciplinary and collaborative proposals, as well as papers featuring original theoretical ideas and empirical data. Moreover, we particularly welcome submissions from junior scholars and scholars from under-represented groups.
Please send your proposals for papers (consisting of a paper title, 200-word abstract, institutional affiliation and full contact details) to Angelos Angelou ([email protected]) and Dimitra Panagiotatou ([email protected] ) who will be happy to respond to any enquires about this call or the workshop.
The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday 6 January 2023. Applicants will be notified whether they have been included in the workshop by early February 2023.
