.jpg)
printBenefits of using Alexander Bogdanov’s organizational theory in explaining the transformations of the European Union
Moiseeva D.E.,
Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, moiseeva.d17@gmail.com
elibrary_id: 836089 | ORCID: 0000-0003-1575-4019 | RESEARCHER_ID: G-1627-2017
Article received: 2021.08.12. Accepted: 2022.06.10
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2023.03.04
EDN: TMPOVI
For citation:
Moiseeva D.E. Benefits of using Alexander Bogdanov’s organizational theory in explaining the transformations of the European Union. – Polis. Political Studies. 2023. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2023.03.04. EDN: TMPOVI
Abstract
The current development crises of the European Union (EU) reveals at least a slowdown in the pace of integration, if not ia rollback on common policies. The seeming lack of connection between events like Brexit, European debt crisis or the rise of Eurosceptic parties, leads to their isolation as subjects of research. However, there is an alternative view that all these events are different manifestations of a single process which is consistent with a deep transformation of the EU political system. Transformation implies both integration and disintegration. In this article, organizational theory (tectology) is presented from the perspective of applying the concepts proposed by Alexander Bogdanov to the processes of change in the united Europe. Classical theories of European integration are limited because they focus on the drivers of integration rather than disintegration. With the politicization of integration, growth of its influence on everyday life of European citizens and changes in the EU itself, a demand appeared for a new theory that could explain these changes (including crises). The article analyzes modern theoretical and methodological approaches in European studies, including postfunctionalism. The blind side of postfunctionalism is its extensive expansion of the subject field. Despite the predominance of this theory in modern European studies, it is not a system theory, meaning that another turn of EU transformation will require a new theory to explain it. The organizational theory of A. Bogdanov, being a system theory, is able to provide the necessary assumption and concepts in order to explain crisis phenomena (including disintegration) as part of a larger process. A distinctive feature of Bogdanov’s tectology is considering a (political) system as a “living” creature capable of self-regulation and adaptation. This approach to the study of democratic political systems seems to yield better insights in the functioning of the modern International Relations system.
Keywords
disintegration, transformation, European Union, theories of integration, postfunctionalism, Bogdanov, tectology, organizational theory.
References
Bartolini, S. (2005). Restructuring Europe: centre formation, system building, and political structuring between the nation state and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
De Vries, C.E. (2018). Euroscepticism and the future of European integration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eppler, A., Anders, L.H., & Tuntschew, T. (2016). Europe’s political, social, and economic (dis-) integration: revisiting the elephant in times of crisis. IHS Political Science Series. Working Paper No. 143.
Gare, A. 2000. Aleksandr Bogdanov and systems theory. Democracy & Nature, 6(3), 341-359. https://doi.org/10.1080/10855660020020230
Hirschman, A.O. (1970). Exit, voice and loyalty: responses to decline in firms, organizations and states. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hix, S. (2008). What’s wrong with the Europe Union and how to fix it. New York, NY: Polity.
Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2009). A postfunctionalist theory of European integration: from permissive consensus to constraining dissensus. British Journal of Political Science, 39(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000409
Jachtenfuchs, M., & Kasack, C. (2017). Balancing sub-unit autonomy and collective problem-solving by varying exit and voice. An analytical framework. Journal of European Public Policy, 24(4), 598-614. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2016.1273376
Leuffen, D., Rittberger, B., & Schimmelfennig, F. (2022). Integration and differentiation in the European Union: theory and policies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76677-1
Rokkan, S. (1999). State formation, nation-building and mass politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 422 p.
Taylor, P. (2008). The end of European integration: anti-Europeanism examined. London: Routledge.
Wiener, A., Börzel, T.A., & Risse, T. (2009). European integration theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Arbatova, N.K., & Kokeev, A.M. (Ed.). (2020). Strategicheskaya avtonomiya ES i perspektivy sotrudnichestva s Rossiei [EU strategic autonomy and prospects for cooperation with Russia]. Moscow: Ves' Mir. (In Russ.)
Babynina, L.O. (2017). Integratsionnye formaty v Evrope i predely evropeizatsii [Integration formats in Europe and the limits of Europeanization]. In A.A. Gromyko, & V.P. Fedorov (Ed.), Evropa XXI veka: novye riski i vyzovy [Europe of the XXI century: new risks and challenges] (pp. 145-162). Moscow: Nestor-Istoriya. (In Russ.)
Bazhan, A.I. (2018). Perspektivy evrointegratsii: valyutno-finansovye aspekty [Prospects for European integration: monetary and financial aspects]. Moscow: IE RAS. (In Russ.)
Bogdanov, A.A. (1989). Tektologiya: vseobshchaya organizatsionnaya nauka. Moscow: Ekonomika. V 2-h tt. T. 2. 304 p. (In Russ.)
Butorina, O.V. (2020). The shrinking of the European Union and its integration capability. Contemporary Europe, 2, 20-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15211/soveurope220202032
Entin, M.L. (2020). Unalternative character of EU development. Contemporary Europe, 4, 25-36. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15211/soveurope420202536
Loktionov, M. (2016). Alexander Bogdanov – the founder of General systems theory. Philosophy of Science and Technology, 21(2), 80-96. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21146/2413-9084-2016-21-2-80-96
Moiseev, N.N. (1995). A.A. Bogdanov’s tektology – contemporary prospects. Voprosy filosofii, 8, 8-13. (In Russ.)
Potemkina, O.Yu. (2019). After the Crisis: “A New Start” of the EU Migration Policy. Contemporary Europe, 6, 18-29. (In Russ.) http://dx.doi.org/10.15211/soveurope620191829
Strezhneva, M.V. (2020). Systems approach in international research: on the applicability of the theoretical heritage of Alexander Bogdanov. Polis. Political Studies, 4, 112-123. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.04.08
Content No. 3, 2023
See also:
Strezhneva M.V.,
Systems Approach in International Research: on the Applicability of the Theoretical Heritage of Alexander Bogdanov. – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No4
Inoguchi T.,
Political theory. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No3
Fadeyeva L.A.,
Twists of European Integration. – Polis. Political Studies. 2018. No5
Strezhneva M.V.,
Make-up of fiscal integration in the European Union. – Polis. Political Studies. 2024. No2
Borovsky Yu.V., Shishkina O.V.,
The EU's energy policy and its driving forces. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No3
.jpg)
.jpg)