Explaining EU Asymmetry: A Comparison of Borders and Asylum Policy Development - A Works in Progress Presentation by Kaija Schilde and Sara Goodman

Why does the EU coordinate on some policies and not others? In this paper, Profs. Kaija Schilde (Boston University) and Sara Goodman (UC Irvine) begin by recognizing lack of coordination or harmonization not as a failure or aberration, but as a feature, by reconsidering the EU as a political context of asymmetry and dynamism, where policy stasis can be imperfect, differentiated, ongoing and interdependent. They examine the uneven development of comparable policies complicating national sovereignty to consider what type of ex ante theorization could characterize the EU’s policy landscape not as problematic or malfunctional, but as equilibrium, defined by stable asymmetry and bifurcated agency. They consider three dimensions of asymmetry: power, temporal, and interests. By aligning comparative and IR theory, they identify the nexus of these asymmetries as accounting for bifurcated migration policy through comparative case study analysis. Extrapolating from migration as a representative policy area, they suggest a dynamic asymmetry approach explains uneven and “arrested” political development of the EU as purposeful and enduring. The Works in Progress presentations are intended to foster interdisciplinary conversations among Europeanists and others at BU. Open to faculty, graduate students, and visiting researchers. Refreshments will be served. RSVP to edamrien@bu.edu.