The Transformative Power of Europe: External and Internal Diffusion of Ideas in the European Union

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Tanja A. Börzel
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: from 2008 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 71496437

The diffusion of ideas has become a central research theme in political science, sociology, law, history, and economics. In this context, the Kolleg-Forschergruppe focuses on the theoretical and methodological challenges of identifying scope conditions for and interaction effects between the various causal mechanisms by which ideas are spread across time and space. We concentrate on the European Union (EU) as an almost ideal laboratory for investigating processes and outcomes of diffusion. First, European integration itself can be described as an effort to promote the diffusion of ideas across Europe and beyond. Second, European societies and polities emulate each other through mimetic processes. Third, Europe and the EU also serve as active promoters of diffusion processes toward the outside world. Last not least, European integration is embedded in and responds to larger global diffusion processes. The Kolleg-Forschergruppe will explore the diffusion of ideas in three thematic areas: “identity and the public sphere,” “compliance, conditionality, and beyond,” and “comparative regionalism and Europe’s external relations”. We will pursue our goals through a Fellow Program, a Sabbatical Program, the promotion of junior researchers, and outreach and exchange activities, which seek to engage practitioners in politics, media, and civil society.

• DFG Programme: Advanced Studies Centres in SSH
• Subproject of: FOR 1026: The Transformative Power of Europe: External and Internal Diffusion of Ideas in the European Union
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Thomas Risse