Transversal Democracy Projection in the Mediterranean: A De-centred Practice Analysis

This book expands on the existing literature on the international dimension of democratization by introducing the concept of democracy projection. Democracy projection is defined as the projection of (democratic) norms through the every-day practice of interactions - beyond any donor-recipient relationship - between states and foreign civil society actors on issue areas where both sides have interests to defend.

The edited volume examines a variety of such issue areas, including trade, anti-corruption, applied research, gender and LGBTI, focusing on EU practices in its everyday dealings with civil society in the Southern Mediterranean. Based on comparative case studies relying on extensive interviews, direct observations and content analysis, the chapters in this book conclude that the extent to which democracy is projected varies according to four main factors: the EU’s perceived interest, its ideational commitment to norms of dialogue and inclusion, the degree of institutional inertia, and dominant discourses/structures of meanings which preclude EU engagement on substance.

Transversal Democracy Projection in the Mediterranean will be of interest to students and scholars of Political Science, International Relations, and Democratisation studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Mediterranean Politics.

Anna Khakee is Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Malta and EMA (European MA in Human Rights and Democratisation) Director. Prior to her appointment, she worked as a Senior Researcher at IHEID in Geneva and as a consultant to CSOs, think tanks and IOs, including FRIDE, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre, and the UNDP. She has been a consultant to several Swedish parliamentary and government committees and has served the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities. Prof. Khakee has published widely, including in Democratization, International Spectator, Journal of North African Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, and East European Politics and Societies.

Sarah Wolff is Professor in International Studies and Global Politics at Leiden University. She previously was Professor in European Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), where she also led the Centre for European Research (2017-2023). She has researched extensively EU-Middle East and North Africa, EU-Islam as well as the EU’s policies on migration, gender and religion abroad. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Mediterranean Politics. Before joining academia, she worked at the European Commission and the European Parliament. Her book Secular Power Europe and Islam: Identity and Foreign Policy (Michigan University Press, 2021) received the 2023 Best Book Award from the European Union Studies Association.