CRIA_WAEMU_accepted_version_LUPIN_2019.pdf (319.95 kB)
Looking like a regional organization? The European model of regional integration and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
Of all African regional organizations, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is the one that has most explicitly followed the model of the European Union (EU), emulating key EU institutions and practices. WAEMU’s mimicry of the EU is puzzling, considering the economic, political and geographical differences between the European and the West African regional context. This article argues that, in order to understand WAEMU’s trajectory, it is necessary to look at two interrelated factors: on the one hand, WAEMU's history of colonial legacies and post-colonial dependence; on the other, WAEMU's drive to mimic institutions seen as embodying standards of modernity and legitimacy. WAEMU’s isomorphism has been an outcome of external pressures, but also a response to uncertainty and a result of professionalization. Institutional isomorphism has had a mixed impact on the effectiveness of the organization, helping it to sustain its legitimacy but also stifling endogenous development.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Politics and International Studies
Published in
Cambridge Review of International AffairsVolume
33Issue
2Pages
179-203Citation
PICCOLINO, G., 2019. Looking like a regional organization? The European model of regional integration and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Cambridge Review of International Affairs, doi:10.1080/09557571.2019.1634676.Publisher
Taylor & Francis © 2019 Department of Politics and International StudiesVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Cambridge Review of International Affairs on 12 Jul 2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2019.1634676Acceptance date
2019-04-02Publication date
2019-07-12Copyright date
2020ISSN
0955-7571eISSN
1474-449XPublisher version
Language
- en