The reminder of the thesis is organized as follows. In Chapter 2, I introduce a model to study the impact of the EU on civil society development. My model is based on the pathway model that has been utilized to study the influence of the EU on border conflicts (Diez et al. 2006; 2008). I illustrate that an attention to connective pathway regarding how EU influence interactions between various actors and its outcome and incorporation of a key variable in the model can significantly improve our understanding of the relationship between the EU and civil society. I derive the empirical implications of my analytical framework on three levels- women’s, environmental and human rights NGOs- which I examine in the empirical chapters in 5, 6 and 7.
Chapter 3 presents the EU’s approach to civil society to show how the EU’s understanding reflected to an enlargement context. I examine approaches that lay at the center of EU civil society policy. Overall, I find that the EU follows a twin-track approach to civil society. In this approach, civil society is an instrument of democracy promotion and a partner in European governance. In addition, I show that although the EU’s policy towards civil society is conceptualized in a particular way, EU member states are molded by different understandings and traditions of civil society.
In Chapter 4 through long-term analysis I trace the development of civil society in Turkey. I examine the development of civil society to point out historical legacies that matter for civil society. Empirically I focus on several legislative frameworks since the Ottoman modernization program (Tanzimat) and secondary literature on different aspects of civil society. I show that there are six vital legacies in relation to civil society, which date back to the Ottoman period. These legacies in relation to civil society are still the constituent elements of the civil society in Turkey, and have implications on the EU influence.
In empirical chapters I turn to implications of my pathway model on women, environmental and human rights civil society respectively. I examine how the EU used its accession context and conditions to exert influence on different sectors of
civil society. I focus on the in-depth analysis of the EU mechanisms, impacts of these mechanisms and provide an explanation of the EU impact by invoking a plausibility probe in each empirical chapter.
The findings of the compulsory pathway and enabling pathway of the EU influence show similarities across different sectors of civil society. There are two main findings of the compulsory pathway: First, the EU has enforced a significant change in the legal framework. Yet, the post-2005 period surfaced implementation related problems. Second, EU funding has shaped the agendas and increased the capacity and visibility of civil society.
Assessment of the enabling pathway of the EU influence indicates that civil society actors in all issue areas frequently use EU standards and norms as a reference point to legitimize their actions and to promote their agendas. This has led to empowerment of civil society vis-à-vis the state, but this effect has been vulnerable to fluctuations in EU-Turkey relations.
In Chapter 5 I show that a stronger degree of Europeanization of women’s civil society is achieved when the EU meets with facilitating historical legacies. I find that traditionally, women’s civil society has been developed, has formed relations with the Turkish state and participated in decision-making processes and has collaborated with their counterparts and established transnational connections with external networks throughout different periods of history. In addition I show how the EU, through different pathways, has enabled women’s civil society to cooperate and collaborate with the state institutions, to take an active role in policy-processes, and to form and empower networks both with domestic civil society actors and their counterparts in other countries. I also demonstrate how legacies matter and provide an explanation of the EU impact.
In Chapter 6 I show that the EU impact has been ambivalent on environmental civil society. I illustrate that environmental activism has been moderate; it formed relations with the Turkish state to participate in policy processes but at the same time has been restricted by the state’s approach to civil society. Furthermore, environmental civil society has weak cooperation both with other domestic environmental actors and their European counterparts. Even though the EU has provided opportunities, the moderate status of the environmental movement and the weak cooperation among environmental actors have acted as constraining conditions
of the EU impact. I finally show how historical legacies matter for the Europeanization of environmental civil society in Turkey.
In Chapter 7 I show that the Europeanization of civil society is limited when historical legacies function as a constraining condition for the EU impact. The controversial relationship between the state and human rights civil society, the restricted cooperation among human rights actors and the limited use of transnational connections has restrained the EU impact. In the cases of human rights, civil society legacies of the past have functioned as a constraining condition of the EU impact.
Finally, Chapter 8 reviews the major findings of the analyses and highlights their implications for our understanding of the relationship between the EU and civil society. In this concluding chapter I also discuss the limitations of the present research and counterarguments, policy implications as well as new questions for further study.
CHAPTER 2
ANALYZING THE EU IMPACT ON CIVIL SOCIETY: A THEORETICAL