INQUIRY & I NSIGHT UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO ’S GRADUATE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE VOLUME 4, N UMBER 1 © U NIVERSITY OF WATERLOO 2011 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR In a Day of Affirmation speech delivered at the University of Cape Town, Robert F. Kennedy made reference to a Chinese curse that is as relevant today as it was on that fateful day in 1966 – “May you live in interesting times.” Recent economic crises, international political turmoil, regional conflicts and environmental concerns have certainly brought this equivocal proposition to fruition. Whether as political scientists we consider this to be a positive or a negative, it has nonetheless allowed for interesting debate and analysis of current affairs. By extension, the articles included in this year’s edition of Inquiry & Insight reflect this tumultuous environment, and explore financial issues such as the minimum wage in Canada and the European sovereign debt crisis. Furthermore, this volume includes an analysis of China’s foreign policy, human rights norms, and environmental politics – an increasingly relevant and influential field. Perhaps most reflective of these interesting times is an analysis of the 2011 Egyptian Uprising, informed by the first-hand experiences of the author in this revolutionary milieu. The fourth volume of Inquiry & Insight includes works by both Master’s and Ph.D. students from prominent universities around the world. With a record number of submissions received from a broader range of international institutions, this year’s publication furthers the success of previous issues, and strives to perpetually improve the quality of work included. To this end, particular emphasis was placed on the originality of research, as well as conceptualization, operalization and methodology. In fact, the majority of the articles selected for publication provide analyses of original research in order to help further the theoretical, empirical, and normative understandings of political science. I would like to express my gratitude to members of the Editorial Board, both internal and external, for their invaluable suggestions and insight. A special thanks is dedicated to Alexander Hudson (Assistant Editor) and David (Frogh) Kohyar (Layout/Webmaster) for going above and beyond to help see the vision for this year’s journal come to life. Sincerely, Cristina Plesoianu Editor-in-Chief CONTRIBUTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO Cristina Plesoianu Editor-in-Chief Alexander Hudson Assistant Editor David (Frogh) Kohyar Layout/Webmaster EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD: UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO Huy Bui David Kempthorne International Relations Political Economy Peace and Conflict Public Policy Daniel Chirilenco Effey Kobia Comparative Politics Peace and Conflict Canadian Politics International Development Stephanie Dudkowski David (Frogh) Kohyar International Development Comparative Politics Public Politics International Relations Alexander Hudson Cristina Plesoianu Peace and Conflict Peace and Conflict International Development International Relations EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD: BALSILLIE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Lucie Edwards Anton Malkin International Development Political Economy Comparative Politics International Development Veronica Rubio Vega Jessica West Political Economy Peace and Conflict Public Policy International Development EXTERNAL EDITORS: Tom Roach Political Economy Public Policy 4 I&I Vol. 4 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS EUROPEAN SON NEOLIBERAL INTEGRATION, THE EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION AND THE EUROPEAN SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISES 6 Jesse Hembruff ASSERTIVE OR COOPERATIVE? ASSESSING CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY PATTERN IN SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTES FROM 1970 S TO 2000 S 19 Jie Wang IMPLICATIONS OF THE GOLD STANDARD CERTIFICATION SCHEME FOR THE PERCEIVED LEGITIMACY OF THE CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM 47 Beth Jean Evans THE EGYPTIAN UPRISING A MOVEMENT IN THE MAKING 60 Sundus Balata WHO CARES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT? AN ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN CANADA 82 Taylor Hall HUMAN RIGHTS AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY – IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCE ? INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND DISAGREEMENT IN THE UN G ENERAL ASSEMBLY 97 Attila Molnár RESPONDING TO THE CRISIS OF PROFITABILITY THE FUNCTION OF THE MINIMUM WAGE IN THE NEOLIBERAL ERA 116 Jason Edwards EUROPEAN SON NEOLIBERAL INTEGRATION, THE EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION AND THE EUROPEAN SOVERIGN DEBT CRISES Jesse Hembruff QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA ABSTRACT This paper takes a critical political economy perspective to examine the process of monetary and financial integration within the European Union (EU). In contrast to other perspectives, which emphasize the political or symbolic aspects of the EU, it is argued that the formation of European Monetary Union (EMU) has been driven by a largely neoliberal logic. Using the critiques of neoliberalism developed by Gill (1995) and Peck and Tickell (2002), this paper critically analyzes this process of neoliberal integration. Although driven by a universalizing logic, the incomplete and contradictory implementation of neoliberal integration within the EU set the stage for a crisis of capitalism in the form of the sovereign debt crises, by institutionalizing key structural asymmetries between the Eurozone core and the periphery. However, the actions taken following the crisis have been aimed at consolidating and deepening neoliberal integration with policies designed to maintain the value of capital, whilst simultaneously disciplining labour through austerity conditions. HEMBRUFF EUROPEAN SON INTRODUCTION Following the Second World War, the process of European integration proceeded in fits and starts, navigating an uneasy tension between a desire for integration and a reluctance to cede national control over key issues. Despite this, the European Union (EU) has become a key player internationally, and its currency, the Euro, has become second only to the US Dollar in international use (Dominguez, 2006: 68). However the European Monetary Union (EMU) is now facing perhaps its greatest challenge in the form of the sovereign debt crises, which have affected Greece, Ireland and Portugal; crises that appear poised to undermine the Eurozone itself. Mainstream perspectives tend to emphasize the political or symbolic aspects of European integration while often ignoring the social character of economic relations or the prevailing structural conditions of global capitalism. 1 The thesis pursued here is that the EMU is driven largely by a neoliberal logic; albeit one that has been implemented in a contradictory, uneven, and incomplete fashion. This fragmented implementation created the conditions leading to a crisis of capitalism that clearly revealed the structural imperatives of capital and the discipline of markets. Finally, this crisis has been used as a lever to further consolidate the neoliberal project at the heart of the EMU, by drawing on the disciplinary aspects of the global credit system (Soederberg 2005). This article begins with an exploration of the theoretical perspective of Gill (1995), as well as Peck and Tickell (2002), conceptualizing neoliberalism and the neoliberal state (or in this case, regional organization). Subsequently, the formation of the EMU is examined, with particular attention paid to the international political economic context within which it was created, and demonstrates that the construction of the EMU was driven primarily by a neoliberal logic. The next section analyzes the structural asymmetries within the EMU, which resulted from its contradictory implementation, and demonstrates how these asymmetries contributed to the emergence of a sovereign debt crisis in 2009. The final section critically analyzes the policy responses and discourse of European elites, to demonstrate that the crisis has not changed the EMU’s fundamentally neoliberal character, and has instead been used as a lever to further consolidate and deepen neoliberalism within the EU. NEOLIBERALISM AND NEOLIBERAL STATES Stephen Gill’s 1995 article, “Globalisation, Market Discipline and Disciplinary Neoliberalism,” develops the language necessary to analyze neoliberal restructuring. Neoliberalism, in its most basic form, refers to “the steadfast belief that political and social problems should be solved primarily 1 For an overview and critique of rationalist and constructivist accounts, see Maccartney 2011; for further mainstream perspectives on integration, see Pentland, 2000. 7 I&I Vol. 4 No. 1 INQUIRY & INSIGHT Fall 2011 through market-based mechanisms as opposed to state intervention.” (Soederberg, 2005: 938) Gill argues that what defines the present era is the emergence of a neoliberal ‘market civilization,’ configured by the power of transnational capital, involving a myth of capitalist progress, hierarchical social relations, and achieved through a combination of market discipline and localized political power (Gill, 1995: 399). Within this market civilization, Gill identifies the coexistence of two varieties of neoliberalism, which he terms ‘oligopolistic’ and ‘disciplinary.’ Oligopolistic neoliberalism involves on the one hand, protection for the strong and wealthy and a socialization of their risks, while on the other, market discipline for the weak (Gill, 1995: 405). Disciplinary neoliberalism “is a concrete form of structural and behavioural power” that combines the structural power of capital (through market discipline); the ability of capital to promote uniformity and obedience in political policies; particular instances of state power; and finally, panopticon-