Imagining Co-presence in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: The Role of ‘Dialogue’

Abstract

This article attempts to draw upon the work of a key thinker on dialogue, Mikhail Bakhtin, to shed light on dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. It also draws upon the work of Bruce Tuckman's 1965 forming, storming, norming and performing group development model. By applying these theoretical frameworks to the specific case of Euro-Mediterranean relations, the article aims to uncover the challenges facing EU-Mediterranean partners in developing mutual relations through dialogue. It also suggests ways in which obstacles to improved Euro-Mediterranean dialogic ties could be overcome.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank participants at: the Roundtable on the Third Basket of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on Culture and Community in the EMP which took place in Alexandria, Egypt, 5–7 October 2003; the panel on the European Union and the Mediterranean: Theoretical Reflections, ECPR conference, University of Bologna, Bologna, 24–26 June, 2004; the International workshop on ‘The Impact of European Union Involvement in Civil Society Structures in the Southern Mediterranean’, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, FES Maroc, Rabat, 4–5 December, 2004; and the Policy Brief discussion workshop on Bringing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Closer to the People: 35 Proposals to Engage Civil Society in the Barcelona Process, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, FES Maroc, Rabat, 18–19 March, 2005 for thought-provoking debates on this topic as well as Tobias Schumacher, Sharon Pardo, Iva´n Martín, Nicola Smith and two anonymous referees for their constructive feedback.

Notes

¹ Adapted from Monar (1997).

² Communication between the author and Iver B. Neumann, September/October 2003. See Neumann (2003).

³ See also Bakhtin (1984) and Clark (1984).