Neo-Weberian historical sociology, the English School and differentiated integration in the EU

ABSTRACT

This article explores the contributions of Neo-Weberian historical sociology of the state and the English School of International Relations theory to our understanding of differentiated integration in the European Union. In doing so, it turns to the English School concept of ‘radial empires’ to establish differentiation as a structural feature of all centralized entities in international society such as the European Union. It then turns to the concepts of ‘sociospatial networks of power’ and ‘despotic vs. infrastructural’ forms of state power from the Neo-Weberian literature to discuss why empires function radially. Subsequently, it links vertical differentiation to the interplay between sociospatial networks of power and horizontal differentiation to the interplay between despotic and infrastructural forms of state power in the member states of the European Union. Crucial insights for understanding differentiation can be gained from engagement with these concepts not least for understanding Brexit which links with the United Kingdom’s particularly high infrastructural power.

KEYWORDS:

• English School
• Neo-Weberian historical sociology
• EU
• differentiated integration

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 8th Pan-European Conference on the European Union of the European Consortium for Political Research at the University of Trento, Italy between 15–18 June 2016. I thank chair and discussant Frank Schimmelfennig and the participants for their comments. I also thank the editors and referees of this journal for their comments on an earlier version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. In this respect, those uniform dark blue EU maps are also misleading as they fail to capture the differentiated nature of integration. See Foster for a discussion of how these EU maps actually attempt at creating an imperial identity in what can be described as ‘cartoimperialism’.