A Sociology of European Integration?

The aim of this paper is to study the heterogeneity of sociological approaches, concentrating on the European integration process. The objective is to situate these sociological approaches in relation to the epistemological backgrounds of other conceptual frameworks. This is done in three steps. While the first part of the paper concentrates on the definition of sociological approaches to European integration, the second looks more closely at the central puzzles that are shared by the majority of researchers working in the sociological tradition. A third and final part presents in greater detail critical approaches to European integration.