Short description:

This book examines the relevance of integration theories for studying and analyzing the crisis situations faced by the EU since 2009.

Long description:

This book examines the relevance of integration theories for studying and analsing the crisis situations faced by the EU since 2009.

Ten years on from the start of the ?age of crisis?, it critically analyses the impact of the multiple crises? context on the EU polity and questions the utility of integration theories for grasping the peculiarities of the particular crisis under study. Bringing together prominent scholars in EU studies, the volume constitutes an essential reference book on integration theories. Its contribution is twofold. First, it provides a comparative overview of classical integration theories for studying and analysing current crisis situations the EU faces. Second, the book connects theories to current debates through an in-depth discussion of recent crises that hit European integration since 2009, with a particular focus on the financial crisis, Brexit, refugee crisis, illiberal tendencies in some member states, and the Coronavirus pandemic.

This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European integration, European Union politics, political theory, and, more broadly, to European studies.

'An outstanding volume edited by two leading scholars of EU studies, this is one of the most sophisticated and systematic treatments of Europe?s "age of crisis"? that I have seen. Ecumenical in its approach, the chapters test old and new theories of European integration against the crises of the last decade. The editors have done an excellent job in ensuring the coherence of the volume. The final result is far more than just the sum of its parts.'

Christopher Bickerton, University of Cambridge, UK.

'Drawing on new research, this volume highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current theories of European integration. The authors provide a comprehensive guide to our understanding of the European Union and how it has responded to the crises of the past decade. The result is a diverse, engaging, and deeply informative volume that is a valuable resource for students of European politics.'

Gary Marks, UNC-Chapel Hill, USA, and European University Institute, Italy.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction: European integration (theories) in crisis?  2. Legitimacy Crisis in the European Union  3. Sovereignty Conflicts in the European Union  4. Cleavage Politics and European Integration  5. The New Intergovernmentalism and the Euro Crisis: A Painful Case?  6. Neofunctionalism in the Decade of Crises  7. Between Neo-functionalist Optimism and Post-functionalist Pessimism: Integrating politicisation into integration theory  8. Sociological Approaches to the Crisis  9. European Communion and Planetary Organic Crisis  10. The Limits of the Europeanization Research Agenda: Decoding the reverse process in and around the EU  11. ASEAN and the EU in Times of Crises: Critical junctures from the perspective of comparative regionalism  12. Differentiation as a Response to Crises?  13. Understanding and Explaining the European Union in a Crisis Context: Concluding reflections