Monika de Silva
University of Gothenburg, Political Science, Graduate Student
- Fundamental Rights In the EU, EU Foreign Policy, International Human Rights Law, Foreign Policy and Human Rights, International Law, Gender Studies, and 6 moreInternational Refugee Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, Diplomatic and Consular Law, International Negotiation, and European Court of Human Rightsedit
According to recent scholarship, populist governments engage in "unpolitics," a repudiation of politics as the process of resolving conflict, including on the level of the EU. We propose that the conditions provided by the Council... more
According to recent scholarship, populist governments engage in "unpolitics," a repudiation of politics as the process of resolving conflict, including on the level of the EU. We propose that the conditions provided by the Council preparatory bodies, namely constructive negotiation culture, focus on technical details and containment of a negotiation outside of mediatised venues, might hamper the emergence of unpolitics. We test this argument by tracing the process of the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence, concluded in June 2023. This case study serves as a hard case for our theory because gender equality as a policy area is susceptible to tactics of unpolitics and right-wing populists have employed populist critique of the Istanbul Convention in their domestic contexts. Having analysed multiple data sources, including interviews with negotiators in the Council of the EU, official EU documents, and media coverage, we find little evidence of unpolitics in the case of the Council's negotiation of the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention. We suggest that decision-making venues such as Council preparatory bodies can mitigate phenomena associated with populism, such as the use of unpolitics tactics in EU decision-making.
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To what extent is diplomacy a depolarizing tool of international society? This article proposes a novel theoretical and empirical focus on depolarization in international politics of gender and sexuality. It operationalizes the concepts... more
To what extent is diplomacy a depolarizing tool of international society? This article proposes a novel theoretical and empirical focus on depolarization in international politics of gender and sexuality. It operationalizes the concepts of polarization and depolarization and integrates them with Self/Other theory in international relations. It puts forward an argument that the logic of diplomacy is, although not unequivocally, compatible with the logic of depolarization. The claim and the application of the framework are illustrated with a case study of gender equality and LGBT + rights diplomacies in Poland. Based on the empirical findings, the article contends that diplomacy is primarily a practice of depolarization. ¿Hasta qué punto es la diplomacia una herramienta para despolarizar la sociedad internacional? Este artículo propone un novedoso enfoque, tanto teórico como empírico, sobre la despolarización en la política internacional en materia de género y sexualidad. El artículo operacionaliza los conceptos de polarización y de despolarización y los integra dentro de la teoría del Yo/Otro en las RRII. El artículo presenta el argumento de que la lógica de la diplomacia es, aunque no de manera inequívoca, compatible con la lógica de la despolarización. Esta cuestión y la aplicación de este marco se ilustran mediante un estudio de caso sobre la igualdad de género y los derechos de las personas LGBT + en Polonia. El artículo argumenta, sobre la base de las conclusiones empíricas, que la diplomacia es, principalmente, una práctica de despolarización. Dans quelle mesure la diplomatie constitue-t-elle un outil de dépolarisation de la société internationale ? Cet article propose un angle théorique et empirique inédit sur la dépolarisation en politique internationale du genre et de la sexualité. Il rend les concepts de la polarisation et de la dépolarisation opérationnels, avant de les intégrer à la théorie du Moi/de l'Autre en RI. Il avance un argument selon lequel la logique de la diplomatie est, bien que cela soit sujet à interprétation, compatible avec la logique de dépolarisation. L'affirmation et l'application du cadre sont illustrées à l'aide d'une étude de cas des diplomaties relatives à l'égalité des genres et aux droits LGBT + en Pologne. En se fondant sur des résultats empiriques, l'article affirme que la diplomatie correspond d'abord à une pratique de dépolarisation.
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The aim of this paper is to answer whether and how international human rights law protects from segregationist policies – a still present phenomenon including such practices as prohibition of interfaith marriages, physical separation of... more
The aim of this paper is to answer whether and how international human rights law protects from segregationist policies – a still present phenomenon including such practices as prohibition of interfaith marriages, physical separation of men and women in everyday activities or segregation of Roma children in education. I firstly turn to conceptual problems regarding the term “segregation” by proposing its definition and categorizing its diverse displays. I draw a conclusion that segregation and discrimination are separate, although often intertwining, concepts. Subsequent parts of the paper contain an analysis of various international human rights law instruments conducted in search of a norm prohibiting segregation. I conclude that there is no explicit and general prohibition of segregation in international law, however some fragmentary and dispersed norms concerning segregation can be found through analysis of treaties, customary rules as well as doctrinal and judicial interpretati...
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W artykule zostały zaprezentowane wyzwania dla międzynarodowych i wewnętrznych regulacji prawnych oraz praktyki przyznawania statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy do-mowej. Rozważania zostały oparte na Konwencji dotyczącej statusu uchodźców... more
W artykule zostały zaprezentowane wyzwania dla międzynarodowych i wewnętrznych regulacji prawnych oraz praktyki przyznawania statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy do-mowej. Rozważania zostały oparte na Konwencji dotyczącej statusu uchodźców oraz do-kumentach wydanych przez organizacje międzynarodowe, a także orzecznictwie i usta-wodawstwie wybranych jurysdykcji. Autorka opisuje przeszkody w nadawaniu statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy domowej spowodowane sformułowaniem definicji legalnej "uchodźcy". Zgodnie z definicją, wnioskodawca musi obawiać się prześladowań ze wzglę-du na "rasę, religię, narodowość, przynależność do określonej grupy społecznej lub z po-wodu przekonań politycznych". Wykazanie związku między państwem a wnioskodawcą, wyłączenie możliwości ucieczki wewnętrznej, regulacje proceduralne oraz różnice so-cjokulturowe stanowią dodatkowe przeszkody w uzyskaniu ochrony międzynarodowej.
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What kind of global gender actor is the European Union? Existing literature, although interested in EU’s external gender equality policy, does not place the EU in the larger context of international gender politics. Comparative discourse... more
What kind of global gender actor is the European Union? Existing literature, although interested in EU’s external gender equality policy, does not place the EU in the larger context of international gender politics. Comparative discourse analysis of EU policy documents and statements in the Commission on the Status of Women shows tension between EU’s claim of leadership status in gender politics and little discussion of transformation, progress and change of the status quo as well as vagueness of EU’s position. This finding leads to inquiry into possible explanations of this mismatch. Internal rules of decision-making, especially the need to achieve agreement between EU member states, is found to explain EU’s foreign policy on gender. The study of the EU as a global gender actor shows that the ability of the EU to diffuse norms externally, as captured by normative power and transformative power concepts, is conditional upon proper norm formation within Europe.
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Research Interests:
W artykule zostały zaprezentowane wyzwania dla międzynarodowych i wewnętrznych regulacji prawnych oraz praktyki przyznawania statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy do-mowej. Rozważania zostały oparte na Konwencji dotyczącej statusu uchodźców... more
W artykule zostały zaprezentowane wyzwania dla międzynarodowych i wewnętrznych regulacji prawnych oraz praktyki przyznawania statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy do-mowej. Rozważania zostały oparte na Konwencji dotyczącej statusu uchodźców oraz do-kumentach wydanych przez organizacje międzynarodowe, a także orzecznictwie i usta-wodawstwie wybranych jurysdykcji. Autorka opisuje przeszkody w nadawaniu statusu uchodźcy ofiarom przemocy domowej spowodowane sformułowaniem definicji legalnej "uchodźcy". Zgodnie z definicją, wnioskodawca musi obawiać się prześladowań ze wzglę-du na "rasę, religię, narodowość, przynależność do określonej grupy społecznej lub z po-wodu przekonań politycznych". Wykazanie związku między państwem a wnioskodawcą, wyłączenie możliwości ucieczki wewnętrznej, regulacje proceduralne oraz różnice so-cjokulturowe stanowią dodatkowe przeszkody w uzyskaniu ochrony międzynarodowej.
Research Interests:
The aim of this paper is to answer whether and how international human rights law protects from segregationist policies-a still present phenomenon including such practices as prohibition of interfaith marriages, physical separation of men... more
The aim of this paper is to answer whether and how international human rights law protects from segregationist policies-a still present phenomenon including such practices as prohibition of interfaith marriages, physical separation of men and women in everyday activities or segregation of Roma children in education. I firstly turn to conceptual problems regarding the term "segregation" by proposing its definition and categorizing its diverse displays. I draw a conclusion that segregation and discrimination are separate, although often intertwining, concepts. Subsequent parts of the paper contain an analysis of various international human rights law instruments conducted in search of a norm prohibiting segregation. I conclude that there is no explicit and general prohibition of segregation in international law, however some fragmentary and dispersed norms concerning segregation can be found through analysis of treaties, customary rules as well as doctrinal and judicial interpretations.
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This paper explores the puzzling question why the European Union (EU) – as a strong promoter of human rights in external affairs – does not seek accession to most of the United Nations (UN) human rights treaties. Several possible... more
This paper explores the puzzling question why the European Union (EU) – as a strong promoter of human rights in external affairs – does not seek accession to most of the United Nations (UN) human rights treaties. Several possible explanatory factors derived from preliminary research are examined: the EU’s internal and external context, the added value of accession, and the degree of internalization of the human rights norms in the EU. The example of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which the EU seeks to accede, is used for comparison. Based on an analysis of documents and secondary literature as well as interviews with various experts, the paper argues that the low level of internalization accounts best for the lack of EU interest in the ratification of the UN human rights treaties. The other variables are not really different from the case of the ECHR and make accession to the UN framework, in some aspects, even comparatively more attractive for the EU.