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Social Theory and European Transformation: Is there a European Society?

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  • G. Delanty

Abstract

The concept ‘society’ in social theory has generally presupposed notions of cultural cohesion and social integration associated with national societies and the framework of modernity. This older idea of the social emerged out of the experience with institution-building associated with the rise of the nation-state and the transition from ‘tradition’ to ‘modernity’. The question whether European integration can articulate a conception of the social independent of national society is a major challenge for social theory. This paper explores changing conceptions of the social in recent social theory and applies some of these ideas to European integration. It is argued that we need to rethink our notion of society: instead of a ‘transition’ the kind of social change we are experiencing today is that of social ‘transformation’, a concept which suggests less the ‘end of the social’ than an emerging ‘network’ society based on knowledge. Thus instead of trying to reproduce on the supranational level a model that has reached its limits on the national level, European integration needs to give expression to the emerging power of knowledge. Rejecting the notion of the demos and the ethnos as inappropriate to European integration, the case is made for a discursive understanding of democracy and knowedge.

Suggested Citation

  • G. Delanty, 1998. "Social Theory and European Transformation: Is there a European Society?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 3(1), pages 103-117, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:3:y:1998:i:1:p:103-117
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.156
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    Cited by:

    1. Menachem Monnickendam & Yitzhak Berman, 2008. "An Empirical Analysis of the Interrelationship between Components of the Social Quality Theoretical Construct," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 525-538, May.
    2. Ian Manners & Philomena Murray, 2016. "The End of a Noble Narrative? European Integration Narratives after the Nobel Peace Prize," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 185-202, January.
    3. Buda, Mariana, 2017. "Different Theoretical Approaches about European Studies," MPRA Paper 91410, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Chris Rumford, 2001. "Confronting ‘Uncivil Society’ and the ‘Dark Side of Globalization’: Are Sociological Concepts up to the Task?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(3), pages 101-104, November.
    5. Yitzhak Berman & David Phillips, 2000. "Indicators of Social Quality and Social Exclusion at National and Community Level," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 329-350, June.
    6. Buda, Mariana, 2012. "L’effet de domino des études européennes: le développement de l’Ouest vers l’Est de l’Europe [The Domino Effect of European Studies: the Development from the West to the East of Europe]," MPRA Paper 45215, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.

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