Moral policy entrepreneurship: the role of NGOs in the EU's external human rights policy towards China

Although it is acknowledged that NGOs play an important role in the EU's policymaking, their role in external action is less studied due to the often closed-off character of foreign policymaking. This study helps to fill this gap by analysing the role of NGOs in the EU's external human rig...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of contemporary European studies 2022-07, Vol.30 (3), p.552-565
Main Authors: Buntinx, Ann-Charlotte, Colli, Francesca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
China
Content analysis
Crises
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
EU external action
Human rights
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
policy entrepreneurs
Policy making
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although it is acknowledged that NGOs play an important role in the EU's policymaking, their role in external action is less studied due to the often closed-off character of foreign policymaking. This study helps to fill this gap by analysing the role of NGOs in the EU's external human rights policy towards China regarding the Xinjiang crisis. It is based on a content analysis of EU and NGO documents, as well as interviews with EU and NGO representatives. We find that NGOs act not just as policy entrepreneurs, but as moral policy entrepreneurs: they combine expertise with moral arguments about the EU's responsibility as a human rights leader to push the Xinjiang crisis higher on the EU's agenda and guide its response.
ISSN:1478-2804
1478-2790
DOI:10.1080/14782804.2021.1963688