Sebastian M. Büttner - Sociology of Europeanization

Sozialwissenschaftliche Einfhrungen

Edited by

Rainer Schtzeichel

Volume

ISBN 9783110673623

e-ISBN (PDF) 9783110673630

e-ISBN (EPUB) 9783110673838

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

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The numerous and far-reaching socio-political transformations that have taken place on the European continent since the mid-20th century have stipulated the emergence of new approaches and research fields in the social sciences. One of these is the development of a Sociology of Europeanization during the 1990s and 2000s against the backdrop of major political changes in Central and Eastern Europe from 1989, the establishment of the European Union (EU) in 1993, and more general processes of transnationalization and globalization. Since then, the long-term processes of European integration and corresponding dynamics of Europeanization have intensified tremendously: The EU expanded within a relatively short period from a community of 12 member states at the beginning of the 1990s to a community of 28 member states by 2013. Today it consists of 27 member states, since with the so-called Brexit of Great Britain in 2021 after the 2016 referendum we have also witnessed the first withdrawal of an EU member state from EU membership. Apart from its huge territorial expansion, the thrust of European integration since the 1990s has also nurtured the social, cultural, and economic diversity of the EU. Beyond this, the establishment of the EU during the 1990s with the enforcement of its four major freedoms (the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labor), the expansion of European policy coordination, and the implementation of a common currency have stipulated multifaceted institutional changes and social transformations that are neither easy to grasp nor to comprehend. Furthermore, during the past decade, Europe has been shaken by several serious and far-reaching economic, social, and political crises, bringing about new social conflicts, strong disintegrative forces, and putting into question overly rosy prospects of a united Europe and shiny visions of an ever-integrating union.