The European Union and Global Development: A Rights-based Development Policy?

This book examines the EU's commitment to a human rights-based approach to development through the lens of global justice theory, identifying limits to the approach and discussing the potential impact of standardised policies on vulnerable groups and partner countries' democratic ownership of their development trajectory.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the European Union's (EU) unwavering commitment to a human rights-based approach to development, drawing upon global justice theory to provide a comprehensive analysis. It identifies the boundaries and challenges of the EU's approach, emphasizing the potential perception of standardized policies, particularly in the realm of human rights sanctions, as neo-colonial and potentially undermining the recognition of vulnerable groups' experiences and interests. Through engaging with primary sources, including official documents, reports, and 45 semi-structured interviews with EU and member state officials, the book offers a novel explanation for why the EU may deviate from its commitment to rights-based development and adopt differentiated foreign policy responses to similar situations. This insightful work will appeal to scholars and students of EU foreign policy, EU development policy, human rights, and international relations, as well as policy practitioners engaged in the fields of development, human rights, and democracy promotion.

This book systematically analyses the European Union's (EU) commitment to a human rights-based approach to development through the lens of global justice theory.

It identifies limits to the EU's approach and discusses how standardised policies, particularly in the case of human rights sanctions, may be perceived as neo-colonially intrusive and can come at the cost of recognizing the experiences and interests of vulnerable groups and allowing for partner countries democratic ownership of their own development trajectory.

Engaging with primary sources including official documents, reports, and 45 semi-structured interviews with EU and member state officials, the book also presents a novel explanation for why the EU, at times, steps out of its commitment to rights-based development and chooses differentiated foreign policy responses to similar situations.

This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU foreign policy, EU development policy, human rights, and international relations, as well as policy practitioners working in the fields of development, human rights, and democracy promotion.

Weight: 390g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032059730