Face-to-face , second term, 22,5 hours of theory.

Second term
Monday from 14:00 to 16:00 at 109 Marais 510

French

The course aims to familiarise students with historical sociology applied to the European Union.

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Sociology and the political sciences have not always been on good terms with a the ‘historical approach'. Nonetheless, State building or the emergence and development of supranational organisations contribute to long-run social processes. Recently, an increasing number of scholars from across the intellectual spectrum have stressed the importance of the long-run historical perspective. This indeed allows us to stand back and be more circumspect about the questions that are considered as being the most crucial, both for theory and in political and policy terms for the European Union today. For example, the construction of the legitimacy of EU, and the question of an identification with both European and national political communities.

The course presents, firstly, the intellectual origins of the historical sociology of the European integration and its methodological foundations. It goes on to present a selection of the key authors in the field and their ideas, such as Norbert Elias' dynamique de l'Occident, centred on the effects of the monopolisation of power through the centuries, or Bartolini, who stresses the idea of centre formation. Lastly, the course will take a more in-depth look at a number of more specific themes - the question of identity-based resistance to Europe or the construction of transnational spaces and power - studied through the lens of recent historical sociology.

Part 1  : historical sociology (relating to politics), definition and foundations of the approach

Part 2  : from Norbert Elias' socio-historical approach of the construction of the Europe (La dynamique de l'Occident, 1939) to Stefano Bartolini (Restructuring Europe, 2005)

Part 3  : the applied historical sociology of European integration (case study)

Lectures and additional further reading plus, depending on specific content, contributions from guest speakers.

Oral examination

Bartolini, S., Restructuring Europe : Centre Formation, System Building, and Political Structuring between The Nation State and the European Union, Oxford-New York, Oxford University Press, 2005.

Bartolini, S., Mair, P. Identity, Competition and Electoral Availability : The Stabilisation of European Electorates, 1885-1985, ECPR Press, 2007.

Cohen, A., « La construction européenne », in Cohen, A., Lacroix, B., Riutort, P., Nouveau manuel de science politique, Paris, La Découverte, 2009

Courty, G., Devin, G., La construction européenne, Paris, La Découverte, 2005, coll. « Repères » (1ère éd. 1996).

Déloye, Y., La sociologie historique du politique, Paris, La Découverte, coll. « Repères », 2003 (1ère éd. 1997).

Guiraudon, V., Favell, A., The sociology of the European Union, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Politique européenne : la socio-histoire de l'intégration européenne, n°18, hiver 2006.

Sassen, S., La globalisation : une sociologie, Paris, Gallimard, 2009 (trad.).

Tilly, Ch., Contrainte et capital dans la formation de l'Europe, 990-1990, Paris, Aubier, 1990 (trad.).

Weber, M., L'éthique protestante et l'esprit du capitalisme, Paris, Plon, 1964, rééd. Pocket (trad.).

Detailed course plans (slides) are supplied to students as the course progresses. Compulsory and optional further reading.