Afterword

Between 20 and 21 June 2024, the first academic workshop of the ValEUs network
“Critical Perspectives on European Values” was held at Université Paris 8. The workshop aimed to explore the prerequisites for a constructive critical perspective on European values. The main objective was to discuss the pitfalls and blind spots that determine the academic landscape around European values and to steer it into new directions. The workshop displayed the sheer diversity of the ValEUs network in terms of (inter)disciplinary approaches, research themes and geographical spread of the participants ranging from Colombia to Kazakhstan. This multidimensionality led to lively discussions about how to revisit research on European values and move towards constructive critical perspectives.
Three observations, which were central to the discussions held, can also be recognized in this collection of the first issue of the Interdisciplinary Review of ValEUs. First, many participants questioned the very concept of European Values. Their efforts in historical genealogy, transnational analysis and decentering laid the groundwork for deconstructing the idea of attributing certain norms and epistemologies to Europe or the West more broadly. Second, participants addressed the prominence of European values in the institutional make-up of the EU and what happens when the EU does not live up to these norm-setting practices in the implementation of its policies. More research is needed about such contestations of European values. It would contribute significantly to the literature that examines the dissemination EU values through policy mechanisms. Third, participants observed that European values are still frequently represented as static while recent research is showing that they are subject to reinterpretation. They argue for an expansion of research that is able to capture the fluctuations and reinterpretations of values and how these reinterpretations emerge in specific socio-political contexts.