CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Haselsteiner, Anna |
|---|---|
| Title | The layering of liberal and postcolonial development practices: Analyzing EU-Africa development cooperation under the Ursula von der Leyen Commission amidst colonial legacy |
| Summary | This thesis looks at the complex dynamics of the political economy and postcolonial dimensions of EU-Africa development cooperation. Tracing the historical path of EU-Africa relations, from the colonial period and the Treaty of Rome 1957 to contemporary agreements such as the Joint EU-Africa Strategy of 2007 and the newest “Comprehensive Strategy for Africa” by the European Commission, published in March 2020, the thesis examines continuing critiques of asymmetrical power dynamics, showing that the EU pertains a mainly liberal approach towards its cooperation with Africa, but hides social and economic postcolonial practices behind this approach. Through studying layering of postcolonial and liberal development practices, focused on the current EU-Africa Strategy of the European Commission, the thesis shows how colonial legacies continue to maintain unequal power relations between the EU and Africa, despite the rhetoric of an “equal” partnership. The practical implications of these perspectives are shown through a country case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The thesis is an attempt to bring the very distinct areas of international political economy and postcolonial studies into conversation, as postcolonial scholarship has been reluctant to open up for economic analysis, while IPE literature frequently has been hesitant to take up postcolonial critique. |
| Supervisor | Piroska, Dora |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/haselsteiner_anna.pdf |
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