IR Jean Monnet Seminars Continue
Stella Ladi, Senior Lecturer in Public Management at Queen Mary University of London, visited the Department of International Relations on February 18 and delivered a speech entitled "Fast-Forward Europeanization and Administrative Reform." The seminar was organized by the Jean Monnet Chair in the IR Department, Assist. Prof. Dimitris Tsarouhas. Numerous staff and students from across the University's faculties were present.
Dr. Ladi began her speech by stating that the Eurozone crisis has raised discussion about the Eurozone project and its future and the study of the EU has been affected as well. She talked about the "fast-forward Europeanization" phenomenon, asserting that inertia and divergence are equally common outcomes; however, the current financial crisis increased the pace of the Europeanization process rather than slowing it down. Additionally, she argued that the time and type of change need to be analyzed in order to evaluate fast-forward Europeanization. She emphasized the fact that "when things happen affects how they happen," and therefore there is a very strong relationship between time and policy change. She furthermore claimed that with the Eurozone crisis, the speed of decisions and their implementation has been increased. She concluded by stating that there is a need for reconsideration of our theoretical tools, because top-down Europeanization has increased and misfit cases are not viable anymore.
As in all Jean Monnet Seminars, Dr. Ladi's speech was followed by an interactive and lively question and answer session. Several questions were asked about recent EU politics, such as the UK's stance toward the EU, the future of the Eurozone, the public's reaction to rising nationalistic tendencies and EU enlargement.