China And The European Union: A Constructivist Analysis Of A Dynamic System Of Collective Identities

This dissertation aims to discover the dynamics of the EU-China cooperation from a sociological perspective, revealing the functions of social elements including ideas and identities in the EU-China relations in three decades (mainly from 1975 to 2005). To achieve this aim, the author frames up a constructivist approach of analysis which is conceptualized as the "two-dimensional approach to interstate interaction". The term actually means two dimensions of interactions in which either part interacts on the one hand with the transitional international system, and on the other hand with its counterpart. The author uses two concepts to interpreter the above dimensions:in the system dimension, the way in which the states interact with the international system is "state socialization", or in other words, either China or the EU adapts to the international system by its own way of internalizing the norms arising in the system. In the unit dimension, the way in which the states interact with each other is "identity construction", or in other words, either part adapts to the bilateral relations by continuously adjusting its own identity as well as their identification.With this approach inspired partially by the social theories of international relations, especially Constructivism and the English School, and partially by the practice of the EU-China interactions reviewed in this dissertation, the author is intended to show the social properties of interstate relations which are infrequently mentioned by the international relations scholars on the one hand, and the dynamic characteristics of interstate relations on the other hand. It can be concluded from the EU-China case that the process of interstate interactions is actually the ideological process in which both "state socialization" and "identity construction" are dynamic. In order to have an in-depth perception of them, we should always put these concepts in the global context with permanent change. Only in this way could we understand objectively the past, the present and the future of the EU-China relationship.