Sociology of Europeanization: An Introduction

European studies constitute an interdisciplinary research field. It is and has been strongly shaped by perspectives and approaches from the political sciences, law, and economics – especially those areas of European studies that deal with core issues of EU integration and EU policymaking. Moreover, the field of European studies also has strong roots in the humanities and different branches of the cultural sciences, such as history, philosophy, and philology. In this area of European studies, the cultural, historical, and philosophical dimensions of European society, as well as its interaction and interpretation patterns, are at the center of attention. Sociology certainly has its own place within this wide array of approaches and traditions, taking an intermediary position in the field by combining institutional, interactionist, and interpretative approaches. In this first contribution of the panel, we introduce the major conceptual angles of contemporary sociology of Europeanization and the overall outline of the textbook Sociology of Europeanization.