Final Report Summary - ECONAT (Economic Nationalism and the European Union: The case of the automobile industry)
Activities
The objective of this project was to explore the relationship between economic nationalism and European integration. Of the two potential avenues envisaged – impact of EU regulation on economic nationalism in the member states and development of a supranational European economic patriotism – the latter turned out to be more promising. Accordingly, most project activities have concentrated on this theme.
In the first phase, as planned, the project focused on the case study of the automobile industry, examining whether intra-corporate competition between European, American and Asian subsidiaries of multinational firms has entailed the emergence of a supranational European sense of belonging in this sector. Embedded in a pan-European research network on ‘economic patriotism’, the theme was explored through the specific lens of industrial relations, and the role of European works councils in multinational automobile firms. Results were published in the well-known Journal of European Public Policy in 2012 (see list of publications below).
Subsequently, and building on insights generated in the ‘economic patriotism’ network, the project activities were widened to address a range of more general aspects of ‘economic Europeanness’. Particular efforts have been dedicated to the analysis of the development of pan-European marketing and advertising, as well as to the examination of the debate about the ‘European social model’. Other lines of inquiry have included the European regulation on ‘made in’ labels, and the development of a pan-European management education in business schools. The marketing and ‘made in’ themes have been explored through document study and interviews with EU Commission representatives and marketing professionals in Brussels and London, while the analysis of the debate on the ‘European social model’ draws primarily on the close reading of academic and policy discourses of the last two decades. Beyond my own research, the project has also allowed to organize a state-of-the art workshop on ‘Economic Europeanness’ at CEU Budapest in April 2013 (see details below). It is planned to develop the workshop papers into a special issue of a European studies or political economy journal.
As anticipated, the project has also engaged with the more general scholarship concerned with the connection between economics and nationhood. Contributing to this scholarship, a two-day workshop ‘Economic Nationhood and Globalization’ was organized at CEU Budapest in May 2013 (see below for more details). The workshop has been an excellent opportunity to present project findings in relation to the question how economic nationalism manifests itself at the supranational European level. Moreover, it has allowed me to elaborate a review of the approaches to ‘economic nationalism’ in political economy scholarship, which seeks to explain why recent revisionist accounts have so far been unable to displace the traditional (and mistaken) equation of economic nationalism and protectionism prevailing in this scholarship. Based on a selection of workshop papers and the recruitment of additional contributors, a proposal for publication of a volume ‘Nations and nationalism in economic perspective’ has already been accepted by Central European University Press, Budapest (see below and attachments for details).
Impact of project on development of researcher and host institution
The project has helped to enhance my academic profile in a number of ways. In terms of research, it has widened my area of expertise in the fields of political economy and European studies alike, including the broadening of the publication portfolio (see below for details). The work on the ‘economic Europeanness’ discourse has also introduced me to new methods in discourse theory. Importantly, the project has allowed me to build up new research networks. Following from the two project workshops organized in Budapest, further collaboration is already envisaged in the form of a panel at the European Social Science History Conference 2014, as well as in the form of a number of concrete collaborative publication projects. As highlighted above, a book proposal for a collaborative volume entitled ‘Nations and nationalism in economic perspective, co-edited with Stefan Berger (Bochum), has already been accepted by Central European University Press.
The project has also helped to improve my teaching performance, in particular through the further development of my MA course on ‘economic nationalism’. Likewise, the organization of two major workshops has strengthened my academic management skills. For the first time in my career, this also included the supervision of research assistants who have collaborated in the organization of project events and the preparation of topic-specific reports.
As anticipated, the project has also made a contribution to the further development of the host institution, Central European University Budapest. Most importantly, it has helped to sustain an active research environment at CEU through the organisation or project presentations and of the two project workshops, which were well attended by MA and PhD students. The project has also made a contribution to CEU’s declared objective to increase the volume of external research funds. Moreover, the two small research assistant contracts offered to CEU PhD students have enabled them to gain first-hand experience in research project management, while collaboration in the project has also been beneficial for the further development of their own Ph D work.
As set out in the grant application, the main objective of this Marie Curie project has been to boost the applicant’s academic profile in a way that helps to secure re-integration at the host institution through long-term employment. In this respect, a full-scale review of my research, teaching and university service has taken place at the end of 2012, and as a result of this I have recently received a tenure-track appointment as Associate Professor in the International Relations and European Studies department. The career development objectives of the Marie Curie European reintegration grant have thus been fully met.
The objective of this project was to explore the relationship between economic nationalism and European integration. Of the two potential avenues envisaged – impact of EU regulation on economic nationalism in the member states and development of a supranational European economic patriotism – the latter turned out to be more promising. Accordingly, most project activities have concentrated on this theme.
In the first phase, as planned, the project focused on the case study of the automobile industry, examining whether intra-corporate competition between European, American and Asian subsidiaries of multinational firms has entailed the emergence of a supranational European sense of belonging in this sector. Embedded in a pan-European research network on ‘economic patriotism’, the theme was explored through the specific lens of industrial relations, and the role of European works councils in multinational automobile firms. Results were published in the well-known Journal of European Public Policy in 2012 (see list of publications below).
Subsequently, and building on insights generated in the ‘economic patriotism’ network, the project activities were widened to address a range of more general aspects of ‘economic Europeanness’. Particular efforts have been dedicated to the analysis of the development of pan-European marketing and advertising, as well as to the examination of the debate about the ‘European social model’. Other lines of inquiry have included the European regulation on ‘made in’ labels, and the development of a pan-European management education in business schools. The marketing and ‘made in’ themes have been explored through document study and interviews with EU Commission representatives and marketing professionals in Brussels and London, while the analysis of the debate on the ‘European social model’ draws primarily on the close reading of academic and policy discourses of the last two decades. Beyond my own research, the project has also allowed to organize a state-of-the art workshop on ‘Economic Europeanness’ at CEU Budapest in April 2013 (see details below). It is planned to develop the workshop papers into a special issue of a European studies or political economy journal.
As anticipated, the project has also engaged with the more general scholarship concerned with the connection between economics and nationhood. Contributing to this scholarship, a two-day workshop ‘Economic Nationhood and Globalization’ was organized at CEU Budapest in May 2013 (see below for more details). The workshop has been an excellent opportunity to present project findings in relation to the question how economic nationalism manifests itself at the supranational European level. Moreover, it has allowed me to elaborate a review of the approaches to ‘economic nationalism’ in political economy scholarship, which seeks to explain why recent revisionist accounts have so far been unable to displace the traditional (and mistaken) equation of economic nationalism and protectionism prevailing in this scholarship. Based on a selection of workshop papers and the recruitment of additional contributors, a proposal for publication of a volume ‘Nations and nationalism in economic perspective’ has already been accepted by Central European University Press, Budapest (see below and attachments for details).
Impact of project on development of researcher and host institution
The project has helped to enhance my academic profile in a number of ways. In terms of research, it has widened my area of expertise in the fields of political economy and European studies alike, including the broadening of the publication portfolio (see below for details). The work on the ‘economic Europeanness’ discourse has also introduced me to new methods in discourse theory. Importantly, the project has allowed me to build up new research networks. Following from the two project workshops organized in Budapest, further collaboration is already envisaged in the form of a panel at the European Social Science History Conference 2014, as well as in the form of a number of concrete collaborative publication projects. As highlighted above, a book proposal for a collaborative volume entitled ‘Nations and nationalism in economic perspective, co-edited with Stefan Berger (Bochum), has already been accepted by Central European University Press.
The project has also helped to improve my teaching performance, in particular through the further development of my MA course on ‘economic nationalism’. Likewise, the organization of two major workshops has strengthened my academic management skills. For the first time in my career, this also included the supervision of research assistants who have collaborated in the organization of project events and the preparation of topic-specific reports.
As anticipated, the project has also made a contribution to the further development of the host institution, Central European University Budapest. Most importantly, it has helped to sustain an active research environment at CEU through the organisation or project presentations and of the two project workshops, which were well attended by MA and PhD students. The project has also made a contribution to CEU’s declared objective to increase the volume of external research funds. Moreover, the two small research assistant contracts offered to CEU PhD students have enabled them to gain first-hand experience in research project management, while collaboration in the project has also been beneficial for the further development of their own Ph D work.
As set out in the grant application, the main objective of this Marie Curie project has been to boost the applicant’s academic profile in a way that helps to secure re-integration at the host institution through long-term employment. In this respect, a full-scale review of my research, teaching and university service has taken place at the end of 2012, and as a result of this I have recently received a tenure-track appointment as Associate Professor in the International Relations and European Studies department. The career development objectives of the Marie Curie European reintegration grant have thus been fully met.