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Looking like a regional organization? The European model of regional integration and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

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posted on 2019-04-11, 08:23 authored by Giulia PiccolinoGiulia Piccolino
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 Affairs

Volume

33

Issue

2

Pages

179-203

Citation

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 Studies

Version

  • 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/10.1080/09557571.2019.1634676

Acceptance date

2019-04-02

Publication date

2019-07-12

Copyright date

2020

ISSN

0955-7571

eISSN

1474-449X

Language

  • en

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