Duration: 01.07.2016 – 30.06.2020
Programme: APVV-15-0732

Principal investigator: prof. Jozef Bátora, PhD. (Katedra politológie, FFUK)
Investigators from the Institute for Sociology: prof. PhDr. Silvia Miháliková, PhD., Mgr. Róbert Klobucký, PhD.

Investigators: prof. PhDr. Darina Malová, PhD., doc. Jana Pekarovičová, PhD., doc. PhDr. Milan Vojtech, PhD., Mgr. MSc. Pavol Baboš, PhD., Mgr. Matej Navrátil, Mgr. Ana Benje (PhD. študentka), M.A. Max Steuer (PhD. študent)

Annotation
The EU is a community sharing norms, values and rules facilitating cooperation across societies of the member states. As such the EU operates as a specific form of a recognition order – a system of norms and expectations characterizing relations among member states, forming their identities and differentiating them from nonmembers. Yet, we know relatively little about what provides recognition, under what circumstances and how to EU member states within the EU framework. The aim of the current project is to analyze the nature of the EU’s recognition order and establish its characteristics, especially with a view to analyzing the role of small member states like Slovakia. We seek to figure out what, how and under what circumstances is likely to generate recognition to member states by fellow member states. We do this by empirically exploring two interconnected dimensions: a) public and media discourses on member states’ behavior in relation to particular EU policies; b)formation of ‘thought communities’ sharing understandings of the EU as a political project in and across member state boundaries. These two dimensions are explored using a combination of methods anchored in critical discourse analysis and relational class analysis. Based on this, we seek to develop a thicker understanding of the EU’s recognition order and thereby contribute to the development of theoretical debates on recognition processes and identity formation as well as on the character of the EU as a political entity. At the same time, the project will provide practical insights useful in the formulation of public diplomacy and branding strategies of SR and other small states of the EU.