EU politics from a sociological perspective

The sociological approach challenges established political science perspectives by taking the complexities of social action as its starting point. A sociological perspective provides us with a more realistic and critical picture of Europeanization and democratic politics as a non-violent socially organized form of conflict and cooperation. Expanding upon this train of thought, in this contribution ‘Europeanization’ refers to the institutionalization and differentiation of groups and discourses through political struggles and negotiations that aim to define and reproduce legitimate principles (idea(l)s and practices) of social domination. This has led to the emergence of a European political field, as it is outlined in this contribution, constituting a dynamic topography (Kauppi 2005), an evolving and uneven multileveled space of action. With time, social differentiation and the development of the division of political labor have made the three subfields of the multi-level political field of the European Union, namely the local/regional, the national, and the European, more distinct. Institutions such as the European Parliament and its representatives, the MEPs (Members of the European Parliament), who like to present themselves as the true representatives of European citizens, have become more autonomous in comparison with national parliamentarians and the national political field.