The European Union's Common Agricultural Policy Reforms: Towards A Critical Realist Approach (central And Eastern European Perspectives On International Relations)

This book engages in the controversies of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, demonstrating how these are reiterated by mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. The reforms that the European Union’s CAP underwent during the last three decades were intended to make it less trade-distorting, more taxpayer-friendly and more able to meet the new challenges of environmental concerns and rural development/territorial cohesion. The outcome of the reforms has, however, contradicted these objectives, with the controversies being reiterated by the mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. __European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy Reforms__ argues that these controversies are due to reductionist, rationalist and idealist assumptions with regard to the object of inquiry applied by mainstream approaches. It proposes an alternative critical approach that takes into account the role of real material factors. Critical realism is not just an alternative explanation of CAP reforms but an alternative theory of how explanations can be made, which enables readers to reflect upon and endorse the results of existing lines of research in proceeding towards deeper level theory. Annotation This book engages in the controversies of the European Union s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, demonstrating how these are reiterated by mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. The reforms that the European Union s CAP underwent during the last three decades were intended to make it less trade-distorting, more taxpayer-friendly and more able to meet the new challenges of environmental concerns and rural development/territorial cohesion. The outcome of the reforms has, however, contradicted these objectives, with the controversies being reiterated by the mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. European Union s Common Agricultural Policy Reforms argues that these controversies are due to reductionist, rationalist and idealist assumptions with regard to the object of inquiry applied by mainstream approaches. It proposes an alternative critical approach that takes into account the role of real material factors. Critical realism is not just an alternative explanation of CAP reforms but an alternative theory of how explanations can be made, which enables readers to reflect upon and endorse the results of existing lines of research in proceeding towards deeper level theory." Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction: Change and Controversy of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Existing Approaches Towards Explaining and Understanding CAP Reforms....Pages 13-45 Critical Realist Approach Towards Explaining CAP Reforms....Pages 47-69 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 From Introduction of CAP to CAP Crisis....Pages 73-92 Accommodating CAP to New Trade and Budget Context....Pages 93-120 Towards New CAP Objectives....Pages 121-170 Summary and Conclusion: Beyond ‘New Wine in Old Bottles’....Pages 171-181 Back Matter....Pages 183-195