Theorizing European Union Trade Politics: Contending or Complementary Paradigms?

Abstract

This special issue aims to take the first step towards an inter-paradigmatic debate in the study of European Union trade politics. In this introduction we highlight the importance of trade as an EU policy domain that is currently undergoing radical changes. We also give a brief overview of the literature on EU trade politics, pointing to the fragmentation of different theoretical approaches. Furthermore, we suggest that more dialogue between different paradigms may be fruitful. We conclude by situating the contributions to this special issue in terms of their theoretical and ontological perspectives.

Keywords

• Paradigms
• trade policy
• IR
• EU