Opus grant for the group of prof. Andrzej Polus from the WNS
The group under the supervision of prof. Andrzej Polus of the Department of Development and Regional Studies (WNS) has received an Opus 25 grant from the NCN, for their project entitlted “Beyond the rhetoric of the partnership of equals. A case study of the European Union’s relations with Africa” („Poza retoryką partnerstwa równych. Studium przypadku relacji Unii Europejskiej z Afryką”).
What is the topic of the awarded project?
Historical relations between Africa and the European Union (EU) can be deemed asymmetrical. The Cotonou Agreement turned out to be a one-sided strategy, favoring the EU. Mutual understanding between both sides is needed for the collaboration to be effective. The aim of the project is to create a linguistic lexicometric model for intercultural communication between Africa and the EU. Through the assessment of four sectors of the partnership (trade, development, safety, and migration), the model helps to comprehend how both sides perceive each other. Therefore, the project uses a constructive-reflective methodology, which serves as an innovative approach to the research of relations between Africa and the EU.
Overview of current literature indicates two main problems related to African studies, and relations between Africa and the EU. The first issue revolves around the status of social constructivism in international relations. It is treated as an ontology, and not as a method of conducting empirical research. The second issue concerns the conceptualization of violence in international relations. It is a concept which should be updated in order to understand the dynamic nature of modern relations between Africa and the EU. This research project tackles both of these issues because it treats social constructivism as a middle-range theory, and adopts the concept of epistemic violence, which is a viable alternative to the prevailing realist, Marxist, and liberal approaches.
Group predicted for the project realization consists of: dr hab. prof. UWr Renata Duda, dr hab. prof. UWr Bartosz Michalski, dr Renata Kunert-Milcarz, dr Maciej Herbut, and dr Katarzyna Jędrzejczyk-Kuliniak.
Opus 25 has granted funding for 176 projects out of 2184 submitted, which means that the success rate in the competition amounts to 8,06%. Congratulations!
Who else from UWr has received the Preludium and Opus grants? See here.
Translated by Mateusz Czerwiński (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
