Coming in: Sexual Politics and EU Accession in Serbia - Paperback

by Koen Slootmaeckers (Author)

LGBT rights have become increasingly salient within the EU enlargement process as a litmus test for Europeanness. But the promotion of these norms has provided a basis for political contestation. This book interrogates the normative dimensions of the EU enlargement process, with special reference to LGBT politics. Reconceptualising Europeanisation, it argues that EU enlargement is a process of negotiated transformation in which EU policies and norms are (re)defined, translated and transformed. Empirically, it analyses the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality norms in Serbia's EU integration process, but it looks beyond policies to the impact of the negotiated transitions on lived experiences. Overall, the book raises important questions about the political and social consequences of Europeanisation. At its heart is one crucial question: what do we consider progress?

Back Jacket

LGBT rights have become increasingly salient within the EU enlargement process as a litmus test for Europeanness. They are also increasingly subject to contestation. Coming in explores the symbolism of LGBT rights and the impact of the enlargement process on LGBT politics in candidate countries.

Empirically, the book analyses the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality norms in Serbia. It demonstrates that European integration has created the opportunity for Serbia to politicise LGBT rights for its own ends and engage in what may be termed 'tactical Europeanisation'. As the book demonstrates, candidate countries can instrumentalise EU identity markers for their own political goals, undermining the impact of reforms on the ground.

Offering a novel relational and transnational conceptualisation of the Europeanisation process, Coming in raises important questions about the idea of progress and the role of legal and institutional change within it. Rights without material change for people remain empty signifiers, just as progress in law without a change in lived experience remains hypothetical.

Author Biography

Koen Slootmaeckers is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics at City, University of London