European Union Peacebuilding and Policing

"European Union Peacebuilding and Policing" draws on the work of Michel Foucault to make the case that the EUs (self-) image as a model peacebuilder conceals a darker side of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
This book brings together and connects new research on European integration, security, policing and political sociology in important and original way. These leading contributors show how while both public perception and scholarly attention are mostly focused on the Unions acquisition of capabilities for military peace enforcement tasks, we must first engage with the civilian components of the ESDP and examine how they function within what has been termed the restless European Elsewhere.
This new volume also sets out an agenda for emancipatory change, without appropriating an all-encompassing critical theory. It closely examines the various forms of power that circulate through opaque links between foreign peacebuilders and indigenous populations, to explore the practices in the clearly delimited domain of police interventions. Because many Western governments and their citizens sympathize with the idea and practice of aiding countries transiting from civil war or unstable peace to better themselves by strengthening fundamental freedoms, this is a much-needed contribution to key debates in the field.
This book will be of great interest to students of European politics, sociology, political science and theory.