Ambiguities of power: Struggle and resistance in (the relations between) Turkey and the European Union
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0010836715613363 |
| Author | Hanna L Muehlenhoff |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Cooperation and Conflict
2016, Vol. 51(3) 291 –306
© The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0010836715613363
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Ambiguities of power: Struggle
and resistance in (the relations
between) Turkey and the
European Union
Hanna L Muehlenhoff
Abstract
Traditional definitions of power assume a unidirectional and coercive relationship between two
actors. The debate about power in International Relations has questioned such a compulsive
unidirectionality by pointing to the multidimensionality of power, as well as to the power of those
who are traditionally seen at the receiving end. It is especially the latter aspect that has not been
taken up seriously by empirical analyses. Moreover, research has ignored the complex power
struggles the ‘receiving’ actors are engaged in and their possibility of resistance. If taken into
account, these Foucauldian revisions of the concept of power allow us to analyse the development
of the relationship between Turkey and the European Union (EU) since the turn of the millennium
in a much more nuanced way than is often done in the existing Europeanisation literature. This case
is particularly interesting, firstly because of the change in relations between the EU and Turkey,
questioning the condition of a credible membership perspective under which the traditional form
of power of the EU over its neighbourhood becomes effective. It secondly shows that the EU’s
power extends much beyond the imposition of policy changes and has restructuring effects on
society as a whole, while domestic actors are by no means passive recipients in this process.
Keywords
European Union, Europeanisation, Foucault, power, struggle, Turkey
Turkey, the European Union and the power puzzle
During the past decade, the study of the relations between the European Union (EU) and
Turkey has become a densely populated field. It is often this case that is used to illustrate
the possible ways of EU-influence on non-EU countries. The main focus of this work is
on the Europeanisation of Turkey, referring to the effect of Turkey’s EU-membership
Corresponding author:
Hanna L Muehlenhoff, Department of Political Science, University of Tübingen, Melanchthonstr 36, 72074
Tübingen, Germany.
Email: Hanna.Muehlenhoff@uni-tuebingen.de
613363CAC0010.1177/0010836715613363Cooperation and ConflictMuehlenhoff
research-article2015
Article
292 Cooperation and Conflict 51(3)
perspective on the process of domestic, social and political change in Turkey. Initially,
studies of the Europeanisation of Turkey applied a ‘top-down’ approach, in which the EU
was ‘powerful’ in the sense of being able to have an impact on Turkish domestic politics,
and at least contributing to the democratisation and liberalisation of the country (see Diez
et al., 2005; Schimmelfennig et al., 2003; Yılmaz, 2012). This research strand fits into the
broader wave of first-generation Europeanisation studies (see Goetz and Dyson, 2004 for
the categorisation of first- and second-generation), as well as into early work on the ‘nor-
mative power’ of the EU (see Manners, 2002; Sjursen, 2006).
These studies have been quickly amended by pointing to the influence of domestic
actors such as civil society in shaping EU impact and even instrumentalising the enlarge-
ment process for their own purposes (see Alpan and Diez, 2014; Öniş, 2007). Yet by
large, and in line with second-generation Europeanisation research (see Olsen, 2002),
this has not led to a proper ‘bottom-up’ perspective in that the original source of the
impact is still seen to rest with the EU.
The ‘power puzzle’ in EU–Turkey relations is that this literature sees power to largely
rest with the EU – yet at the same time, there is also agreement that Turkey, while still
considering the EU a main partner in its foreign policy, has moved away from its
European focus of previous decades, both in its foreign policy (witness the turn towards
the Arab states in what is often, although misleadingly, called Neo-Ottomanism) as well
as in its domestic policy (as evidenced by opinion polls as much as the declining impor-
tance of references to the EU in Turkish media and also in an increasingly authoritarian
style of governing seen during and after the Gezi protests). Analysts tend to see this reori-
entation mostly as a consequence of the decreasing credibility of Turkey’s accession
perspective, and thus, basically as waning EU power (see the critical engagement in
Tocci, 2012) – a view that continues to emphasise EU power, even in its decline.
Furthermore, the literature implies a clear separation between the EU level and the level
of the domestic, which is artificially upheld.
The focus on top-down Europeanisation of most research is, to some extent, an effect
of the usual delay of academic research. However, the problem runs deeper. Rather than
needing a mere adjustment to empirical facts, the literature would benefit from a more
careful consideration of power. This would entail the more consistent linking of the
debate about power in International Relations, and the analysis of EU–Turkey relations
to attain a better understanding of the political and societal processes underpinning these
relations. Applying the power debate to the case of Turkey, I will argue that EU–Turkey
relations are shaped by multidimensional and multidirectional power struggles that are,
in turn, part of transversal power struggles. This means that the EU has influenced
domestic actors in Turkey, but these actors have also influenced the EU’s policies.
Moreover, both domestic as well as EU actors are part of, and shaped by, a broader inter-
national context.
Therefore, as an introductory step, I will recap the power debate in International
Relations, focusing on a Foucauldian concept of power, which I think is best suited to my
endeavour to re-analyse Turkey–EU relations. I am particularly interested in two aspects
of such a concept of power, which I will also turn to in the subsequent empirical parts of
my analysis. Firstly, power in this conceptualisation is not merely unidirectional (from
the EU towards Turkey) or unidimensional (focusing on the compulsory power of, for
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