Östeuropa som Den andre? En teorireflekterande uppsats med diskursanalys av intervjuer med svenska och tjeckiska UD-tjänstemän
ÖsteuropaPostkolonialismDiskursEuropaPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
In classic academic social studies of East Europe, terms as Communism and Post-Communism are commonly used to describe the main characteristics of this geographically imagined area. This paper makes a not so frequently seen attempt to apply Post Colonial Theory for the same field. With start point in Post Colonial theoretical writers, the author wants to find a East European Post Colonial version for the internal Europe which will supply tools for a discourse analysis of the European mind map divided into West and East. The material consists of interviews with three Swedish and three Czech officials, all working with European politics in their country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The analysis is carried out with inspiration of Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffes Discourse theory. The project aims to reveal a Post Colonial image of East Europe, but also to discuss what sort of understanding of the term Post Colonial Theory this project includes. The main conclusion is that there is a strong East-West discourse in the material but that a broader sort of definition for Post Colonial application is needed to use the Theory. A broader definition that includes some problematic thoughts that refers to the field of Science Philosophy