Globalization, Social Movements, and the Construction of Europe: The Example of the European Parliament Elections in France, CES Working Paper, no. 74, August 2000

Kauppi, Niilo. (2000) Globalization, Social Movements, and the Construction of Europe: The Example of the European Parliament Elections in France, CES Working Paper, no. 74, August 2000. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

Though social scientists have lately devoted themselves to the study of globalization (Waters 1995; Hirst and Thompson 1999), most of these studies have concentrated on its economic and social consequences. Globalization is often seen as a fundamentally unjust process that causes confusion and destroys more than it creates. In many areas, the substantive implications of globalization are left untouched. In this paper, I examine the link between regional integration in Western Europe and the transformation of domestic politics through the example of the European Parliament elections. I argue that globalization through European integration is having a significant impact on French domestic politics. More precisely, the elections to the European Parliament, a supranational political institution, have contributed to the political mobilization of traditionally voiceless groups such as the unemployed and to the introduction into public discussion of new issues tied to Europe, transforming political culture and the relationship between national politics and multinational bargaining (Keohane and Hoffmann 1990, 295). Not only has European political integration provided marginal groups in France with an access to national politics through European Parliament elections, it has also supplied the government and the presidency with new resources, connecting them to trans-European circles and networks that are developing their own political culture. The success of neoliberal economic doctrines in the European Union may have in part to do with these networks. National ministers spend half their time wrestling with European affairs in the Council of Ministers of the European Union and in transnational party structures, developing a common culture and outlook on politics and economics. The main ingredients for this Weltanschauung are well known: electoral cycles should not interfere with economic policy and unemployment figures should not have priority over other monetary indices in the evaluation of economic and political success.

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