The European Union: A Political Sociology. By Chris Rumford. Blackwell Publishing, 2002. 312 pp. Paper, $9.95

This is a legal and political sociology essay with the objective of a strategic geopolitical, legal and economic analysis of the pros and cons of Turkey's potential entry as a member state of the European Union. The essay is placed on the side of the policies, more in detail on the side of politics making, it starts with the analysis of the state of art, to move towards the need for structural coupling between Turkey and the European Union and then - lastly - there are some authors' thoughts on a potential eastward enlargement of the European Union with its pros and its cons.This is a legal and political sociology essay with the objective of a strategic geopolitical, legal and economic analysis of the pros and cons of Turkey's potential entry as a member state of the European Union. The essay is placed on the side of the policies, more in detail on the side of politics making, it starts with the analysis of the state of art, to move towards the need for structural coupling between Turkey and the European Union and then - lastly - there are some authors' thoughts on a potential eastward enlargement of the European Union with its pros and its cons.

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A Political Sociology of the European Union

Politique européenne ◽

10.3917/poeu.037.0178 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 178

Author(s):

Denis Duez

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Political Sociology ◽

The European Union

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The formation of a European constitution: an approach from historical-political sociology

International Journal of Law in Context ◽

10.1017/s1744552312000250 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 354-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Thornhill

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Political Sociology ◽

New Method ◽

The European Union ◽

Sociological Perspective ◽

European Constitution ◽

Democratic Polity ◽

The Eu

AbstractThis article sets out a sociological reconstruction of the constitution of the European Union (EU). Utilising a methodology derived from historical-functionalist sociology, it explains the distinctive court-led, judicial form of this constitution within a wide comparative-sociological framework, and it cites earlier examples of judicialised constitutions to elucidate the adaptive functions performed by judicial actors in the EU constitution. The article proposes a new method for analysing constitutions in general and that of the EU in particular, and it offers an encompassing sociological perspective for addressing the increasing preponderance of judicial institutions in contemporary democratic polity building.

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Governmentality, political field or public sphere? Theoretical alternatives in the political sociology of the EU

European Journal of Social Theory ◽

10.1177/1368431011418028 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 489-515 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Ann Zimmermann ◽

Adrian Favell

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Political Communication ◽

Political Sociology ◽

Democratic Legitimacy ◽

The Political ◽

The European Union ◽

Sociological Approach ◽

Sociological Approaches ◽

Promising Line ◽

The Eu

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.

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