Europeanization and Political Change: The Case of Cyprus

Abstract

The Cyprus issue has been studied mainly with respect to state-centered assumptions that concentrate on the power struggle in the Eastern Mediterranean. Perspectives integrating aspects of social theory beyond high politics have only recently been a focus of study in the case of Cyprus. This study emphasizes the necessity of developing a new methodological framework and employing new conceptual tools with the help of the theoretical advances in comparative sociopolitical analysis. In this context, studying the Cyprus problem within a framework defined by Europeanization with respect to the changes in national and international conditions in different periods allows a comparative analysis of the transformations in the positions of traditional and social and economic actors towards solving the problem.