Is There a Need for a Sociology of International Relations in European Studies?

While an increasing number of scholars use approaches employed to study domestic politics in analyzing the European Union’s political system, the intergovernmental aspect of the integration process is becoming less and less relevant. However, in areas where governments hold exclusive or even shared competences, it is important not to compare their attitudes to those of individual citizens since states are compound systems. To reintroduce the questions and problems linked to state sovereignty and inter- as well as trans-governmental relations, this paper analyzes the theoretical relevance of sociological approaches to international relations that conceptualize power, sovereignty, and international norms as social constructs.