New Governance and the European Union: An Empirical and Conceptual Critique

Kenneth Armstrong 

Queen Mary University of London, School of Law
April 4, 2013

Forthcoming in G. de Búrca, C. Kilpatrick and J. Scott (eds), Critical Legal Perspectives on Global Governance: Liber Amicorum David M. Trubek (Hart Publishing)
Queen Mary School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 135/2013 
Abstract:      
The European Union (EU) is a striking illustration of a phenomenon evident nationally, internationally and transnationally, namely pluralisation and differentiation in the techniques, tools and methods deployed by public and private actors in the search for more legitimate and/or more effective means of securing economic and social governance. As such, the European landscape has proved fertile terrain for the elaboration of a ‘new governance’ approach to European integration. This essay pinpoints both the contribution which new governance scholarship can make to our understanding of EU governance, while acknowledging the need for analytical refinement and conceptual clarification. The analysis engages with three key themes which resonate with enduring preoccupations of David Trubek’s scholarship: a critical approach to law and governance; a pluralist and sociological account of law; and legal scholarship as a contribution to pragmatic and progressive politics. In so doing, it advances both an empirical and a conceptual critique of new governance scholarship.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 43

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2244762