Putting security in its place: EU security politics, the European neighbourhood policy and the case for practical reflexivity

This article advances the discussion on reflexivity among students of the EU security politics, in particular those scholars who foreground the critical dimension of their work. It argues that reflexivity is a practical concern in, and an integral part of, the research process. Efforts to locate security within a given political ordering need to be combined with an effort from scholars to examine their own knowledge-producing practices. Such an undertaking should not be considered as indulgence, narcissism or as an ex-ante or ex post, meta-theoretical commitment, but should take place in the research process itself, and particularly in the presentation of findings, as a fruitful contribution to research rather than as a safeguard or defence of one’s critical credentials. The article furthers this argument by mapping practical reflexivity onto research on the EU security politics and the European neighbourhood policy.