Suchergebnisse

Written by an internationally renowned team of experts, this book gives a much-needed sociological analysis of the European Union today. Integrating theory and empirical research, it assesses pertinent issues, from mobilities to the media. This is an engaging exploration of a fascinating subject for all students and scholars interested in Europe.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Frontispiece -- Preface -- Introduction Nationalism and Xenophobia -- Austria The Danger of Populism -- Belgium Fragile National Identity(s) and the Elusive Multicultural Society -- Bosnia-Herzegovina Beyond Xenophobia: Ethnic Cleansing -- Bulgaria Rediscovering The Balkans and its Discontents -- Czech Republic More Liberty, More Hi-Fi Stereos, More Hatred -- Denmark The Agonies of Innocence -- Finland The Fortress Syndrome -- France Towards the Institutionalisation of Prejudice? -- Germany A Victory of the Street -- Great Britain Clear Blue Water Between 'Us' and 'Europe'? -- Greece "A Ghost Wanders Through the Capital" -- Hungary "Strangers Thou Shouldst Kindheartedly Support and Respect..." -- Ireland Myths of Innocence -- Italy Enduring a General Crisis -- Luxembourg Tolerant but Conservative -- The Netherlands "Full or at the Limit of Tolerance" -- Norway Democratic Values and Exclusion -- Poland Thank God - One Problem Less? -- Portugal "We're Too Good to be Racist" -- Romania Using Nationalism for Political Legitimacy -- Slovakia The Internal 'Enemies' of National Independence -- Slovenia Afterpains of Secession: 'Nonslovenes' Out!? -- Spain Another Chapter of the Old Intolerance? -- Sweden Emerging Undercurrents of Nationalism -- Switzerland Paradise News -- Turkey Questions of National Identity -- Yugoslavia Old Wine in New Bottles -- Europe National Visions, International Perspectives and Comparative Analysis -- Bibliography -- List of Authors.

It has become a commonplace in discussion on Europe to argue that European integration most benefits elites and upper classes -- people most likely to have international connections - while being of much less benefit to lower classes. This fact in turn is then linked to the widespread mistrust and (sometimes) hostility among ordinary citizens to the European project. Related to this, and which also threatens the integrity of the EU, is growing Euroscepticism in countries which are politically and economically important to the European project's success: notably the UK and Denmark, who have positioned themselves as outsiders to the core of much of the EU. The 7th Framework Program EUCROSS research project provides new data to re-examine these issues and offer suggestions to how European policy makers might make a more constructive case for the positive effects of European integration, including in more Eurosceptic countries (.).

It has become a commonplace in discussion on Europe to argue that European integration most benefits elites and upper classes -- people most likely to have international connections - while being of much less benefit to lower classes. This fact in turn is then linked to the widespread mistrust and (sometimes) hostility among ordinary citizens to the European project. Related to this, and which also threatens the integrity of the EU, is growing Euroscepticism in countries which are politically and economically important to the European project's success: notably the UK and Denmark, who have positioned themselves as outsiders to the core of much of the EU. The 7th Framework Program EUCROSS research project provides new data to re-examine these issues and offer suggestions to how European policy makers might make a more constructive case for the positive effects of European integration, including in more Eurosceptic countries (.).

It has become a commonplace in discussion on Europe to argue that European integration most benefits elites and upper classes - people most likely to have international connections - while being of much less benefit to lower classes. This fact in turn is then linked to the widespread mistrust and (sometimes) hostility among ordinary citizens to the European project. Related to this, and which also threatens the integrity of the EU, is growing Euroscepticism in countries which are politically and economically important to the European project's success: notably the UK and Denmark, who have positioned themselves as outsiders to the core of much of the EU. The 7th Framework Program EUCROSS research project provides new data to re-examine these issues and offer suggestions to how European policy makers might make a more constructive case for the positive effects of European integration, including in more Eurosceptic countries.

The call for a more sociological approach to the study of the European Union, reflected in a number of recent survey works by sociologists and political scientists, offers exciting new prospects for rethinking the empirical terrain of 'Europeanized' politics beyond the nation state – whether in terms of governance, policy-making, parliamentary and legal politics, mobilization, or political communication. Via a survey of three kinds of leading sociological work on the EU, broadly split between three camps working with the distinctive legacies of 'Habermasian', 'Bourdieusian' and 'Foucauldian' thinking, this article details the strengths and weaknesses of these paradigms. Focusing on a number of exemplary studies on the question of democratic legitimacy in the EU using each of these approaches, it offers a preliminary attempt to map their agendas, contributions, and blind spots, moving towards a synthesis that might identify commonalities and streamline a more coherent agenda for the political sociology of the European Union. The most promising line would appear to be one that moves away from purely theoretical/conceptual debates towards specific operationalizations able to combine elements of the various sociological approaches.