ABSTRACT
In chapter 2, Martin Heidenreich presents the theoretical framework underpinning this volume. It starts with a review of the state of the art in the sociology of European integration, followed by the theoretical approach of this volume, which is based on the concepts of the social space and social fields to capture the dynamics and contested nature of horizontal Europeanisation. The process of European integration has fostered cross-border contacts among Europeans and thereby an increasing transnationalisation of social interactions, practices, interpretations and organisational strategies. Complementary to the ‘vertical’ political integration of the EU, this can be termed ‘horizontal Europeanisation’. This concept refers to the transnationalisation of both social fields (often as a result of EU policies and the related opportunities that are strategically exploited by individual and collective actors) and of the social space, as indicated by a transnationalisation of practices, attitudes and membership of social classes. This chapter proposes a set of conceptual tools for analysing the horizontal Europeanisation of social fields and the social space as the contested outcomes of bargaining processes and symbolic conflicts between domestic and cosmopolitan actors. It identifies four Europeanisation modes based on the usage of financial resources, power, norms and discourses. It furthermore highlights both commonalities and differences between the Europeanisation of social fields and of the social space. The chapter advocates a closer look at societal transformations induced by European integration, particularly cleavages and conflicts between the winners and losers of Europeanisation, multiple territorial frames of references and the Europeanisation of social inequalities.
