Translocal Encounters at the Edge: How Communities of Practice Shape the Fight Against Corruption in a Post-Conflict Environment

The aim of this research project is to critically inquire on how and with what impact the EU shapes anti-corruption in its external missions in a post-conflict environment. Despite the rise of a global anti-corruption regime, both academic research as well as practitioners admit that in the past three decades, there has been almost no mentionable evidence of success. Nevertheless, the anti-corruption regime has not been free of impact. In fact, the variety of projects, initiatives, trainings, rankings and benchmarks have resulted not only in a high technization of the fight against corruption, but also in a promulgation of standards of governance. Focusing particularly on the encounters between the local and international experts in the context of international interventions, I analyze two case studies of ecosystems surrounding EU civilian missions with a clear anti-corruption mandate, namely the EU Rule of Law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM). Both cases present an intersection between anti-corruption and post-conflict reconstruction, as well as border management by international actors in the second case. This project will therefore contribute not only to a better understanding of the nexus between corruption and conflict, especially in terms of how competing goals are negotiated, but is also a first step into theorizing the role of communities of practice fighting corruption in the context of civilian missions. Furtermore, this PhD project serves as a springboard for investigating the usefulness of the concept of corruption in the two post-conflict environments, in which the notions of public/ entrusted power and private gain vary from their understanding in established democracies.