6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
This chapter considers recent theoretical work on the European Union in the context of three analytical pathways that depart from the classical debate: comparative political science, a revitalized international relations (IR), and ‘critical theory’. It first outlines the limits of the classical debate before discussing the three pathways and two additional ones beyond integration theory: governance and normative political theory. It then examines the contribution to EU studies of comparative political science in general and new institutionalist political science in particular, the emergence of social constructivist approaches to the EU, and IR's contribution to the theorization of EU external action. It also reviews approaches from the subfield of international political economy and how IR theories might be brought back into EU studies. The chapter shows that the EU continues to raise significant questions about the nature of authority, statehood, and the organization of the international system.