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Comparing Processes of Change: How European Integration Can Learn from Past Experiences

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European Integration, Processes of Change and the National Experience

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology ((PSEPS))

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Abstract

European integration is becoming more and more a process influencing not only politics and economics, but also the European citizenry. In the wake of this development, the scientific interest in European integration has also changed decisively: In addition to the analysis of the political and economic integration processes, the investigation of the societal causes and consequences of European integration is increasingly moving into the scientific spotlight (Díez Medrano 2003; Gerhards 2007; Recchi and Favell 2009; Favell and Guiraudon 2011). If the analysis not only concentrates on changing political or economic patterns but also on societal developments, then one major problem becomes crucial: the very limited time horizon on which a scientific investigation on the societal dimension of the integration process can be based. Twenty years (since the Maastricht Treaty and the invention of European Union Citizenship) or 30 years (since the Single European Act and the founding of a common market in 1986) do not appear to be an appreciable time period for tracing the societal consequences of institutional changes in the course of European integration. So it is not only the often cited (and even more often criticised) methodological nationalism of the scientific community (Chernilo 2006; Beck and Grande 2007) that makes it extremely difficult to conduct sociological research on European integration processes: the very short life span of the subject under investigation, its present-mindedness,1 also constitutes a methodological problem for the research on European integration.

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Authors
  1. Stefanie Börner
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  2. Monika Eigmüller
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany

    Stefanie Börner

  2. Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

    Monika Eigmüller

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© 2015 Stefanie Börner and Monika Eigmüller

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Börner, S., Eigmüller, M. (2015). Comparing Processes of Change: How European Integration Can Learn from Past Experiences. In: Börner, S., Eigmüller, M. (eds) European Integration, Processes of Change and the National Experience. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137411259_1

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