The Politicization of Europe Statham, Paul; Trenz, Hans-Jörg
2013, 20121112, 2012, 2012-11-12, 20130101, Volume:
8
eBook
This book examines how mass media debates have contributed to the politicization of the European Union. The public controversies over the EU's attempted Constitution-making (and its failure) sowed ...the seeds for a process of politicization that has advanced ever since: an increasing visibility for the EU in mass-mediated public debates that is combined with a growing public contestation over Europe within national politics. The book presents an original systematic study of the emerging field of political discourse carried by the mass media in France, Germany and Britain to examine the performance of Europe's public sphere. Whilst the EU's increasing politicization can be seen as beneficial to European democracy, potentially 'normalizing' the EU-level within national politics, the same developments can also be a threat to democracy, leading to populist and xenophobic responses and a decline in political trust. Such discussions are key to understanding the EU's legitimacy and how its democratic politics can work in an era of mediated politics.
The Politicization of Europe will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, media studies, communication, sociology and European studies.
This book focuses on three European asylum procedures and the evidentiary assessment carried out in these. The interrelationship between these procedures and legal systems influencing them is ...explored and questions in relation to the harmonizing strivings of EU are posed.
This book responds to the often loud debates about the place of Muslims in Western Europe by proposing an analysis based in institutions, including schools, courts, hospitals, the military, electoral ...politics, the labor market, and civic education courses. The contributors consider the way people draw on practical schemas regarding others in their midst who are often categorized as Muslims. Chapters based on fieldwork and policy analysis across several countries examine how people interact in their everyday work lives, where they construct moral boundaries, and how they formulate policies concerning tolerable diversity, immigration, discrimination, and political representation. Rather than assuming that each country has its own national ideology that explains such interactions, contributors trace diverse pathways along which institutions complicate or disrupt allegedly consistent national ideologies. These studies shed light on how Muslims encounter particular faces and facets of the state as they go about their lives, seeking help and legitimacy as new citizens of a fast-changing Europe.
The European Union today stands on the brink of radical institutional and constitutional change. The most recent enlargement and proposed legal reforms reflect a commitment to democracy: stabilizing ...political life for citizens governed by new regimes, and constructing a European Union more accountable to civil society. Despite the perceived novelty of these reforms, this book explains (through quantitative data and qualitative case analyses) how the European Court of Justice has developed and sustained a vibrant tradition of democratic constitutionalism since the 1960s. The book documents the dramatic consequences of this institutional change for civil society and public policy reform throughout Europe. Cichowski offers detailed empirical and historical studies of gender equality and environmental protection law across fifteen countries and over thirty years, revealing important linkages between civil society, courts and the construction of governance. The findings bring into question dominant understandings of legal integration.
On December 1, 2009 the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force. Although often described as primarily technical, it significantly amended the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and the old EC Treaty ...(now the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU). This book explores what the Treaty means for social law and social policy at the European level. The first part of the book considers in detail how the general framework looks, at a time of financial crisis, for new foundations for Europe's social market economy. It questions the balance between fundamental social rights and economic freedoms, analyzes the role of the now binding Charter of Fundamental Rights, maps the potential impact of the horizontal clauses on social policy, and addresses the possibilities for social partners to enlarge their role in labor law and industrial relations. The second part, on the social framework of the Treaty, focuses on the development of the EU's competences. It evaluates the consequences of the new general framework on social competences, analyzes the evolution of the principle of subsidiarity and its impact in the new Treaty, looks at the coordination of economic policies in the light of fundamental rights, and discusses the adoption in the Treaty of a new architecture for services of general interest.
A rapidly-changing nation and a key player in the Middle East, Turkey has long been centrally important to both the United States and the European Union. A major partner both of the EU and Turkey, ...the US has also been the most ardent and committed supporter of closer ties between them. Yet while Turkey's relations with the US and the EU have been intimately linked, they have not proceeded along two parallel planes. Nathalie Tocci tells the story of this dynamic triangular relationship, exploring how and why the US has shaped the course of relations among its allies. An empirical study with strong policy relevance, this volume draws on in-depth interviews and official documents to provide a succinct overview of the issues and stakeholders. Tocci argues that the Turkish situation can be viewed as a quintessential case study, tackling broader questions about US foreign policy in the region as a whole.
Creating and Governing Cultural Heritage in the European Union provides an interdisciplinary examination of the ways in which European cultural heritage is created, communicated, and governed via the ...European Heritage Label scheme. Drawing on ethnographic field research conducted at sites in ten countries that have been awarded with the European Heritage Label, the authors of the book approach heritage as an entangled social, spatial, temporal, discursive, narrative, performative, and embodied process. Recognising that heritage is inherently political and used by diverse actors as a tool for re-imagining communities, identities, and borders, and for generating notions of inclusion and exclusion in Europe, the book also considers the idea of Europe itself as a narrative. Chapters tackle issues such as multilevel governance of heritage; geopolitics of border-crossings and border-making; participation and non-participation; and embodiment and affective experience of heritage. Creating and Governing Cultural Heritage in the European Union advances heritage studies with an interdisciplinary approach that utilises and combines theories and conceptualizations from critical geopolitics, political studies, EU and European studies, cultural policy research, and cultural studies. As such, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of heritage, politics, belonging, the EU, ideas and narratives of Europe.
Given the controversies and difficulties which preceded the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it is easy to forget that the Treaty is a complex legal document in need of detailed analysis for ...its impact to be fully understood. Jean-Claude Piris, the Director General of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union, provides such an analysis, looking at the historical and political contexts of the Treaty, its impact on the democratic framework of the EU and its provisions in relation to substantive law. Impartial legal analysis of the EU's functions, its powers and the treaties which govern it make this the seminal text on the most significant recent development in EU law.
The Common Security and Defence Policy maps out how the EU – established primarily to be an economic organisation – can purposefully prepare for and apply the use of military force. In this ...insightful work, Per M. Norheim-Martinsen argues that, since the EU is not a state but nevertheless does embody some non-intergovernmental characteristics, neither EU studies nor strategic studies is sufficient for fully understanding the Policy itself. Combining the two fields, the author utilises the instrumentality and clarity of the strategic approach, while retaining an understanding of the unique character of the EU as a strategic actor. In so doing, he provides a fruitful conceptual framework for analysing the development of the CSDP, how it functions in practice and how it will continue to evolve in the face of the challenges which lie ahead. This book will appeal to scholars and advanced students of European studies, international relations and strategic studies.
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