Conceptual Politics of European Integration

Abstract

The aim of this Panel is to discuss the controversies related to European integration in national and global contexts since the Second World War. These controversies often stem from conceptual disagreements that address key issues relating to various debates or institutions of the integration, such as representation, human rights or freedom of speech. To give a further example, the concept of federalism was perceived and used from a very different standpoint after the devastation of World War II than it is today. As the aim of these controversies is often to redefine and change the way European unity is seen and valued, they are treated as inherently political. The Panel takes up the politics related to the origins of the European political project as well as the many changes of emphases in the functions and workings of European institutions until present. It asks, for example, how and in what historical circumstances these conceptual controversies or shifts in perception were brought about. Papers addressing broadly these issues will be considered. We are interested in Papers that deal with these issues and welcome interdisciplinary contributions covering political science, history and related disciplines.