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Imagining the European Union: Gender and Digital Diplomacy in European External Relations

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Katharine A. M. WrightORCiD

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Sage Publications Ltd., 2020.

For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.


Abstract

The EU has historically sought to project outwards its identity, values and raison d’etre during times of uncertainty and crisis. One of the core values stated to be at the heart of the EU’s identity is gender equality. Yet, whilst gender equality features more visibly in the EU’s external discourse as it seeks to position itself as a global leader in equality and human rights, the internal challenge posed by crisis presents a real obstacle to future developments in this area. This article examines digital diplomacy, specifically twitter presence, as a discursive site for constituting meaning. We thus take the digital space afforded by Twitter as a site where the EU’s internal and external identity is constructed in a process of articulation and contestation. Digital diplomacy is now a salient part of public diplomacy, increasingly prioritised over ‘traditional’ approaches. Using data gathered from Twitter on the EU’s 60th anniversary and International Women’s Day in 2017 this paper provides the first in-depth study of the EU’s approach to digital diplomacy. We find the marginalisation of gender issues from the EU’s core narratives bringing into question the place of gender equality as a core value of the EU.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Wright KAM, Guerrina R

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Political Studies Review

Year: 2020

Volume: 18

Issue: 3

Pages: 393-409

Print publication date: 01/08/2020

Online publication date: 13/05/2020

Acceptance date: 15/11/2019

Date deposited: 15/11/2019

ISSN (print): 1478-9299

ISSN (electronic): 1478-9302

Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1478929919893935

DOI: 10.1177%2F1478929919893935


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