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 particularly since the 1990s, European integration has given rise to a fundamental transformation of social relations and the life worlds of people. While in the postwar period, daily life took place primarily 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 seminar.
In the first part of the class, a broad overview on the process of European integration, major EU institutions and policy fields will be given. In the second part, horizontal Europeanisation processes in different social fields are analysed, as well as the related conflicts and bargaining relations and their impact on patterns of social inequality. Complementary to the Europeanisation of social fields, the Europeanisation of social space (P. Bourdieu) will be analysed, taking as an example the transnationalisation of everyday practices, collective memories and reference groups of social inequalities. This raises the question how field-specific and space-specific Europeanisation processes are related. 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.