Authors Meet Critics: The Political Sociology of a Changing EU

Political sociology aproaches to the EU have been fostered by the need to analyse the state and society transformations following the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. This book session will discuss two recent collective volumes seeking to understand these transformations. The first book, "Europe’s Prolonged Crisis", observes a return of redistributive conflicts that correlates with a 'new politics of identity', nationalism, regionalism and expressions of Euroscepticism. The second, "The Field of Eurocracy"analyses continuities and transfortations in the political and administrative personnel working in and around the EU by exploring who the MEPs, diplomats, civil servants and commissioners are and how they are changing, what they do, and which resources make them successful. The discussion of these two books will highlight interdisciplinary debates on subjects and methods contributing to a better understanding of what is at stake in the ongoing transformations of the EU.