The European Citizens’ Initiative. New Opportunities for European Civil Actors?

The European Union is often criticized for its democratic deficit. This criticism has led to a process of including civil society in European governance through consultations, round table discussions and civil dialogue. These steps of inclusion have been oriented towards organized civil society. This study explores the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) a new tool for participation available to all European citizens. The ECI is considered to take a step further in the democratic development of the European Union by inviting all citizens to not only participate but also independently propose legislation. The study aims to understand the opportunities the ECI offer and how civil actors are using these opportunities. A theoretical framework was designed combining theories of Political Opportunity Structures (POS), Europeanization and Usage of Europe. The ECI was investigated through a within case comparison of pilot and official initiatives. A content analysis, a survey and interviews were conducted to approach the initiatives. The findings of the study suggests that the ECI is perceived as an opportunity structure in terms of a step towards direct democracy, policy influence and a stepping-stone for future ambitions. Civil actors have seized the opportunities through strategic, cognitive and legitimizing usage

The Politics of Feminist Foreign Policy and Digital Diplomacy

The overarching aim of the book is to provide the first comprehensive account of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy and its dissemination through digital diplomacy. In contrast to other scholarly studies of digital diplomacy that tend to view it as a technological and apolitical device for online diplomatic communication, this book examines the specific political dynamics of digital diplomacy. It posits that digital diplomacy is a highly political practice and form of communication. The book offers an in-depth examination of the interdependent relationship between digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy, with an empirical focus on Sweden. Additionally, it introduces a novel theoretical framework to analyse the political characteristics of digital diplomacy, emphasising the oscillation between antagonism and agonism at the intersection of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.In sum, the book provides new theoretical and empirical knowledge of why, how, and in what ways power-political dynamics are produced, sustained, and transformed within the contexts of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. While the focus centres on Sweden, the authors contend that their novel approach to examining the political dynamics of digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy applies to other country case studies as well

Emotional labour in digital diplomacy: perceptions and challenges for European diplomats

Social media are increasingly important tools in diplomacy. Diplomats are expected to use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to communicate with each other and with both domestic and international publics. This form of communication involves displaying positive emotions to generate attention in a competitive information environment. Emotions are essential to managing perceptions, conveying signals and safeguarding state reputation in traditional diplomacy. Commercial demands of online performance however activate new dimensions and challenges in the management of emotions in diplomacy. As digital disinformation and populist campaigns have transgressed the boundaries of domestic public debate, diplomats must also display emotional restraint to contain and counter such influence. This article analyses how diplomats perceive demands of digital diplomacy and how emotions are engaged in their efforts to perform competently both online and offline. The study draws on field work and interviews with 13 European diplomats as well as document analysis of handbooks and training material used to transfer ‘emotional communication skills’ to Swedish diplomats. The study findings suggest that demands of digital diplomacy are challenging traditional enactments of ‘the good diplomat’. In addition to the tensions between outreach and countering communication practices, the emotional labour in digital diplomacy extends beyond what we see on social media. Diplomats perceive the expectations of constant performance online to at times conflict with their professional role offline

Virtual diplomatic summitry

This chapter discusses the rise of virtual diplomatic summitry and its place in the digitalisation of diplomacy. Virtual diplomatic summitry refers to the diplomatic summit meetings that take place through technologies for virtual interaction such as videoconferencing tools, and that take place partly or completely in virtual venues. Virtualisation has been embraced as a solution to sustain institutionalised routines of summitry in the face of disruptions. However, some researchers challenge the adoption of digital tools and use of virtual interaction, arguing that digitalisation in this form may result in lost nuances, risk interpersonal relationships and influence positions of power – all of which are imperative to high-leveled diplomacy. Diplomatic summitry has changed in character and constellation over time and the rise of virtual summits therefore warrants a rethinking of its future role and form in diplomacy. A relational perspective is proposed that focuses on the entangled role of virtualisation and digitalisation in diplomacy and can inform future analyses of virtual diplomatic summitry alongside and in combination with, other forms of diplomatic practice

Transforming practices of diplomacy: the European External Action Service and digital disinformation

This article explores the transformative role of practices of countering digital disinformation in European Union diplomacy. It argues that an overlooked dimension of the change brought by the rise of digital disinformation is located in the emergence of everyday countering practices. Efforts to counter disinformation have led to the recruitment of new actors with different dispositions and skillsets than those of traditional diplomats and state officials in diplomatic organizations such as the European External Action Service. Focusing on the countering efforts by the East StratCom Task Force, a unit introduced in 2015, the article argues that the composition of actors, the task force's practices and the reorientation in audience perception it reflected, contributed significantly to institutional transformation. Drawing on 23 interviews with key actors and building on recent advancements in international practice theory, the article shows how change and transformation can be studied in practices that have resulted from digitalization in international politics. The article thus contributes to an increased understanding of the digitalization of diplomacy in which new practices can emerge from both deliberate reflection and experimentation