What the ‘Other’ thinks of ‘Us’ : The ‘European brand’ seen from a postcolonial perspective
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2013-10-30
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en
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Abstract
In this geopolitical master thesis, a relatively underexposed ‘trialectic of relations’ in the field of
international politics is introduced to the reader, namely that of the European Union, the
Netherlands and Suriname – a former colony of the latter. This is not a random selection of political
entities, but one that shows interdependencies that are primarily reliant on the Netherlands as a
binding factor. In order to get a better perspective on the consequences of this interdependent
relationship for the mutual power relations, the interconnectedness between images of the
Netherlands and the European Union among people living in the former colony has been uncovered
and analyzed. As such, this study was involved with underexplored fields of imaging, and contributes
to a better self-perspective for the two political entities on possibilities for increasing influence.
The focus of this research shows a concern with struggles over global political space through ‘soft
power’ relations and represents a belief in the importance of discursive structures for our
construction and interpretation of reality. Corresponding with poststructuralist thinking, it is the idea
that these discursive structures do not stand alone, but are balanced through reciprocal relations
with autonomous subjects. By complementing this ontology with the humanistic interpretation of
agency, it is assumed that individuals are key in assigning meaning to space and place through intersubjective
processes. However, meaning does not always show directly and phenomena often
conceal greater importance than might be thought at first. Binary oppositions, for instance, shelter
hidden power relations. Likewise, images are constructed as part of an identity formation process,
which thrives on ‘Othering’. Deconstruction serves the purpose of revealing those relations and
postcolonialism, here, provides the framework for achieving this. This all accumulates in the theory
that political and societal entities possess both a ‘reputation’ and a ‘brand’, which amount to ‘soft
power’. While reputation is based on actions, a brand is based on characteristics, both resulting from
the imagination of ‘Others’ – as opposed to self-perception and identity which stem from one’s own
perspective.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen