Theorizing the European Union after integration theory

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This chapter deals with recent theoretical work on the European Union. Three broad analytical pathways that depart from the classical debate are discussed in this chapter: comparative political science; a revitalized international relations (IR); and ‘critical theories’. Two additional pathways—governance and normative political theory—are considered in other chapters (see Chapters 7 and 9). This chapter discusses in turn the contribution to EU studies of comparative political science in general and new institutionalist political science, and in particular the emergence of social constructivist approaches to the EU, IR’s contribution to the theorization of EU external action, together with approaches from the subfield of international political economy (IPE), and a variety of critical theoretical readings of the EU. The chapter also explores how IR theories might be brought back into EU studies. The purpose of the chapter is to show how the EU still raises significant questions about the nature of authority, statehood, and the organization of the international system. These questions are doubly significant in the present period of crisis, where the issue of ‘disintegration’ comes to the fore.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEuropean Union Politics
EditorsMichelle Cini, Nieves Pérez-Solórzano Borragán
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter6
Pages83-101
Number of pages19
Edition6th
ISBN (Print)9780198806530
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Feb 2019

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • integration theory
  • European Union
  • comparative political science
  • international relations
  • critical theory
  • governance
  • normative political theory
  • EU
  • international political economy
  • statehood

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