ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the European Union's (EU's) external trade/environment agenda sideways by exploring how it reflects and produces certain understandings of what the EU is, how it relates to its Member States and third countries, and what it can and should do, when, to whom, for whom, and how. It takes as its starting point Foucault's work on governmentality: his analysis of the state and power relations in modern society. The book discusses the concept of governmentality and its relationship to law. It identifies three aspects of governmentality: rationalities of government, technologies of government, and subjectivities. Each of these aspects is explained in turn, focusing in particular on the relationships among them and the ways in which they draw on Foucault's key concepts.
