Dr. Olga Burlyuk on Epistemic Imperialism and Europe's External Relations

In this episode of 'The Ivory Tower,' we speak to Dr. Olga Burlyuk, assistant professor of Europe's external relations at the University of Amsterdam.We dive into one of Olga's recent publications on how the EU's internal rule of law crisis affects its legitimacy in the European neighborhood. We also discuss her widely-praised article on epistemic imperialism, and Olga tells us about how curiosity and intuition have shaped her academic career. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:03:09) 'External democracy promotion in times of internal rule-of-law crisis' (00:12:07) On the non-linearity of academia & why academics are more than their publications (00:16:45) Back to the paper: Why was there no change in the EU's legitimacy? (00:25:45) Power dynamics in knowledge production (and the general vs. the particular) (00:30:12) On epistemic imperialism (00:41:30) What is the red thread? (00:51:34) Narrative politics & the role of intuition (00:58:30) Self-doubt in academia (01:00:37) What are you working on next? (01:05:46) Book recommendations! Mentioned in this episode: Olga's articles: Burlyuk, O., Dandashly, A., & Noutcheva, G. (2024). External democracy promotion in times of internal rule-of-law crisis: the EU and its neighbourhood. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(3), 900-924. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2181381 Hendl, T., Burlyuk, O., O'Sullivan, M., & Arystanbek, A. (2024). (En)Countering Epistemic Imperialism: A Critique of ‘Westsplaining’ and Coloniality in Dominant Debates on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine. Contemporary Security Policy, 45(2), 171-209. https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2023.2288468 Books: Recommended: "Parade" by Rachel CuskNot recommended: "The Farewell Waltz" & "Identity" by Milan Kundera Mentioned in the episode: "History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity" by Roman Krznaric Find out more about Olga's work here Olga's TwitterOlga's Linkedin More about us:  Our Website  Our Instagram  Our Twitter  Our Linkedin