Greening Integration Theory: Normative Basis, Initial Applications

Abstract:

In this article, I set out the normative contours of a green approach to integration theory. The aim is not to generate a grand theory, but rather to establish a means to critique and evaluate integration processes from a green perspective. First, I set out in more detail the metatheoretical issues at play in shifting from a conventional understanding of theory and its purposes to a green perspective, presenting Stoker’s concept of ‘evaluative theory’ and matching this to the core epistemological features of a Green approach. Next, I sketch the contours of a Green understanding of politics, drawing particularly on green political theory and Gaia theory to do so. To follow this, I set out the kind of regional integration process that would be envisaged from a Green perspective. Finally, I assess the implications for a ‘green’ integration theory, and set out some initial applications of this perspective.