The economic, legal and political integration of Europe is at the core of the process of European integration. In addition to the political transformations induced by the creation, enlargement and deepening of the European Union, in particular since the 1990s, European integration has given rise to a fundamental transformation of social relations and the living worlds of people. While in the postwar period, daily life primarily took place in the framework of nation-states, the opening of hitherto largely nationally regulated and limited social fields and spaces has fostered increasing cross-border contacts and a stronger transnationalisation of social interactions, attitudes and interpretations. This transnationalisation of social fields and spaces as a result of European integration lies at the heart of the research on horizontal Europeanization and also of this lecture.
In its first part, a broad overview on the process of European integration, major EU institutions and policy fields will be given. In its second part, horizontal Europeanisation processes in different social fields, as well as on related conflicts and bargaining relations and their impact on patterns of social inequality are analysed. Complementary to the Europeanisation of social fields, the Europeanisation of social space (P. Bourdieu) will be analysed, taking the examples of the transnationalisation of everyday practices, collective memories and reference groups of social inequalities. This raises the question of the relationship between field-specific and space-specific Europeanisation processes. In addition, different modes of Europeanization (power/coercion, competition, communication and cooperation) will be analysed. Given the profound crisis of European integration in the wake of the Euro crisis, the final part of the course will emphasise the analysis of conflicts and tensions between national and European regulations, identifications, and patterns of integration and social inequality.
In industrialised societies, participation in society is closely connected to a sufficient income. The seminar accompanying the lecture analyses empirical patterns of social inequality in Europe, since cross-border determinants and transnational perceptions of social inequality are becoming increasingly important in the process of European integration. On the basis of the relevant literature, the structure of income inequality, poverty and deprivation as well as unequal opportunities of participating in the labour market and in health care are discussed. In this way, we take into account the multidimensional nature of social inequalities in Europe. These patterns and their development are explained by socio-demographic characteristics and national contextual factors, unearthed in particular through multilevel analyses. A key result of previous research has been the "double dualization" of the European territory, as the inequality of objective living conditions has increased since the beginning of the current financial, sovereign debt and economic crisis, both between different social groups and between regions of Europe (Continental und Northern European countries on the one hand, Southern and Eastern European countries on the other hand).