Normative or Power? Genealogical analysis of citizens' rights promotion within the EU visa liberalisation policy

Abstract: Since 2008, the European Union requires the candidate and neighbourhood countries to undertake reforms in the field of citizens’ rights, including protection of minorities in order to give their nationals access to the Schengen area for the short-term stays. However, within the visa liberalisation procedure, the European Union has demonstrated ambivalence in monitoring the implementation of these normative reforms. The present research focuses on the analysis of Schengen norm promotion from a political perspective, to explain how inconsistent approach of the European Commission on promotion of norms in the candidate and neighbourhood countries through visa liberalisation policy serves the political and economic interests of the EU. In doing so, I employ Michel Foucault’s “power relations” and Julia Kristeva’s “abjection” theories to locate human rights diffusion at the discourse of government rationalities. Conducting genealogical analysis, I conclude that Schengen norm promotion represents the interplay of market discipline of risk management and market discipline of political integration, devoid of purely normative intentions.