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The Argumentative Dimension to the EU-Africa EPAs.
Hurt, S.R. Lee, Donna Lorenz-Carl, U.
Hurt, S.R.
Lee, Donna
Lorenz-Carl, U.
Publication Date
2013
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© 2013 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
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Abstract
Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their
influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African
states through a detailed study of the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the
European Union (EU). In examining African resistance to EPAs, the article develops a constructivist
approach to North-South trade negotiations that pays close attention to the role of development discourses.
We argue that the growing willingness of African states to challenge the EU to deliver on its development
promises during the decade-long EPA process was crucial to informing their sustained opposition to the EU’s
goal of completing a comprehensive set of sub-regional economic agreements. We document African resistance
to EU trade diplomacy in the EPAs, exploring how these otherwise weak countries were able to pursue
normative-based negotiation strategies by recourse to the EU’s promise of a ‘development partnership.’
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final draft paper
Citation
Hurt SR, Lee D and Lorenz-Carl U (2013) The Argumentative Dimension to the EU-Africa EPAs. International Negotiation, 18: 67-87.
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