EU Enlargement and Civil Society in the Western Balkans

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: Differential Empowerment and Domestic Change Agents

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 1-20

3. Evolving Opportunities in the EU Accession Process

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 21-41

4. Civil Society Mobilisation in Croatia

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 43-68

5. Civil Society Mobilisation in Montenegro

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 69-93

6. Civil Society Mobilisation in Serbia

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 95-122

7. Comparing Mobilisation Strategies and Outcomes

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 123-143

8. Conclusion: Civil Society Empowerment and Its Limits

   • Natasha Wunsch

   Pages 145-163

9. Back Matter

   Pages 165-171

   PDF

This book examines civil society empowerment during the EU enlargement process. Building on extensive fieldwork, it compares mobilisation around rule of law issues in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the top-down impact of EU support, it demonstrates NGOs’ agency and analyses their shifting strategies throughout the membership negotiations. Its approach and findings will appeal to scholars and advanced students of EU integration, social movements, and the politics of South East Europe.

• European Union
• EU enlargement
• EU accession process
• civil society
• Western Balkans
• civil society mobilisation
• domestic policy-making
• EU membership
• EU candicacy
• civil society empowerment
• Croatia
• Croatian civil society
• Montenegro
• Montenegrin civil society
• Serbia
• Serbian civil society
• civil society organisations
• sustainable mobilisation
• european union politics

“This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of new modes of governance in the Western Balkans …. It provides an empirically-grounded, comparative perspective on the impact of EU accession on state and non-state actors that is meticulous, detailed, and truly ‘bottom-up’. It will rapidly become a key reference for scholars interested in the region, the impact of Europeanisation, and the ubiquitous institutions of ‘civil society.” (Adam Fagan, Professor of European Politics, Queen Mary University of London, UK)

“A comprehensive and insightful study into the growth, empowerment and limitations of civil society in the Western Balkans region that brings a timely and much needed shift away from a Eurocentric approach.” (Antoaneta Dimitrova, Professor of Comparative Governance, Leiden University, The Netherlands)

“This excellent book makes a well-researched, timely contribution to the literature on the European Union’s impact on the rule of law in EU candidate countries. Through in-depth original research, it demonstrates convincingly the scope and limits of civil society empowerment during the EU accession process.”(Ulrich Sedelmeier, Associate Professor in the International Relations of Europe, London School of Economics, UK)

 

• Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  Natasha Wunsch

Natasha Wunsch is Postdoctoral Researcher in the European Politics Group at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Associate Fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Her research has appeared, among others, in the Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies, Acta Politica, and East European Politics.

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