Crisis and Integration in Europe : Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract

This article aims to present and analyze the theoretical connections between crisis and integration in Europe-making historical movement. Rather than comparing recent integration theories among diverse schools of international politics such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism, I emphasize several concrete theoretical methods linking directly crisis and integration in historical perspective. First, functionalist and neo-functionalist theories will be considered with their concepts of spillover, spillaround, or buildup. Then, I will examine the institutionalist approach which has brought about interesting and fruitful insights into crisis-integration analysis. Finally, I present political-strategy-perspective underlining actors and agency which can complement structural approaches of functionalism and institutionalism. I will conclude by examining the problems of combining those diverse perspectives in empirical research.