EU Autonomous Sanctions: Igniting a Passive Revolution?

• Main Author: Burçak Birben
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UNISCI 2017-01-01
• Series: Revista UNISCI
• Subjects: EU Autonomous Sanctions; Neo-Gramscianism; Hegemony; International Political Economy; Transnational Capital Movemen
• Online Access: http://www.unisci.es/eu-autonomous-sanctions-igniting-a-passive-revolution/

This article intends to explore why there has been an increase in the imposition of EU autonomous sanctions in the last decade although they are accepted ‘ineffective’. Based on the coercive nature of sanctions within the areas of International Relations and International Political Economy, the emphasis has been put on a historical materialist approach, which advocates that the relationship between market intentions and political culture of sanctions is not necessarily deterministic, but rather dialectical. To understand to what extent market intentions play role in this strike, the multidisciplinary theory of Neo-Gramscianism is chosen to conduct an empirical analysis of case comparison. The concept of ‘hegemony’ that the relevant theory has brought forward, has motivated a research on how the EU utilizes autonomous sanctions as an instrument to obtain its political and cultural hegemony.