EU-Professionalism
EU-Professionalism. A Study on the Professionalization of EU-Expertise
Project directors: Sebastian Büttner (University of Erlangen)/Steffen Mau (Humboldt-University)
Project as part of the Research Group: “Horizontal Europeanization”
Funding Institution: German Science Foundation (DFG)
1. Funding period April 2012 - September 2015
Researchers: Lucia Leopold, Matthias Posvic
Subproject 5 focuses on the emergence and consolidation of new areas of employment and activity as linked to the process of European integration and on the institutionalization and professionalization of EU-expertise, in short the rise of the so-called 'EU professionals'. Research conducted in the first funding period analyzed the development and standardization of professional activities and educational programs in the field of 'EU affairs'. Based on a comparative study of EU professionals in Poland and Germany, certain characteristic practices, competencies, stocks of knowledge, and self-images could be identified.
2. Funding period: October 2015 - September 2019
Researchers: Lucia Leopold, Katharina Zimmermann, Ole Oeltjen
Research in the second project phaseaims to establish how EU professionals negotiate 'European' and 'local' stocks of knowledge in the context of EU-funded projects and how they influence the implementation of such projects, especially the allocation of financial resources. In addition to the aforementioned two countries Spain will be included in the study to also gain further insights about a Member State much affected by the eurozone crisis. Using the example of two selected areas of EU funding - the EU cohesion policy and the research funding 'Horizon 2020' -, the study places the procurement and translation services provided by funding specialists as well as the apparent difficulties encountered during this process under close investigation. By focusing on the practical dimension of EU-funded projects, Subproject 5 takes a close look at one of the central pillars of Europe's current crisis management strategy and explores the 'technical' implementation of EU policy-making from a sociological perspective, placing special emphasis on employment and knowledge. With these objectives in mind the study is meant to provide a better understanding of problems and challenges of Europeanization triggered by increasing expertization and professionalization of EU governance.
Project reports TP5
Project report TP 5 2012/2013 (in German) [pdf]
Project report TP5 2016 (in German) [pdf]
Project reports Research Group
Mid-term booklet 2015 [pdf]
Interim report 2016 [pdf]
Conferences
Conference of the Research Unit "Horizontal Europeanization" Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) , November 2-3, 2017. [pdf]
A Double Dualisation of European Societies? Dynamics of Transnational Inequality in Europe. Midterm Workshop of the research group Horizontal Europeanization, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 25. September 2015.
Krise der europäischen Vergesellschaftung? Soziologische Perspektiven. Conference of the research group Horizontal Europeanization, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, 11.-12. April 2013 [poster] [programme] [link]
Related publications:
Gengnagel, Vincent; Zimmermann, Katharina; Büttner, Sebastian (2022): “Closer to the Market“: EU Research Governance and Symbolic Power. Journal of Common Market Studies, online first https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13326.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Mau, Steffen; Zimmermann, Katharina; Oeltjen, Ole (2018): Benennungsmacht und Vokabular der EU-Governance. Zur symbolischen Macht der europäischen Forschungsförderung. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie 43 (Suppl 1): 37-63. [link]
Mau, Steffen; Verwiebe, Roland (2018): Sozialstruktur Europas. In: Bach, M.; Hönig, B. (Eds.): Europasoziologie. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos: 266-272.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2018): Neo-Institutionalismus in der Europasoziologie. In: Bach, M.; Hönig, B. (Eds.): Europasoziologie. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos: 434.443.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2018): EU-Experten und -Professionals. In: Bach, M.; Hönig, B. (Eds.): Europasoziologie. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos: 130-140.
Büttner, Sebastian. M. (2017): Demokratie vs. Eurokratie? Die Legitimationskrise der Europäischen Union im Lichte der aktuellen Postdemokratie-Debatten. In: Eigmüller, M.; Tietze, N. (Hg.): Ungleichheitskonflikte in Europa: Jenseits von Klasse und Nation. Berlin: SpringerVS.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Reiter, Herwig (2017): Jugend und Europa. In: Lange, A; Reiter, H.; Schutter, S.; Steiner, S. (Eds): Handbuch Kindheits- und Jugendsoziologie. Berlin: SpringerVS.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leopold, Lucia; Mau, Steffen (2016): Zwischen „der Eurokratie“ und „den Leuten“: Zum Problem der professionellen Vermittlung von Europapolitik. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 26(1), 35-60. [link]
Büttner, Sebastian; Leopold, Lucia (2016): A ‘New Spirit’ of Public Policy? The Project World of EU Funding. In: European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology 3 (1): 41-71. (Hier frei abrufbar / download free copy here).
Leopold, Lucia (2016): Transnationale Wissensarbeit und EU-Professionalismus. In: Sonderheft zu Wissen – Macht –Arbeit, Professionen und Wissensberufe im Wandel, Berliner Debatte Initial 27 (1), 37-50. [link]
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leopold, Lucia; Posvic, Matthias (2016): Projektifizierung durch EU-Förderung: Konturen und Tätigkeitsbereiche der EU-Projektwelt. In: Stephan Lessenich (Hrsg.): Routinen der Krise - Krise der Routinen. Verhandlungen des 37. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Trier 2014. (Hier frei abrufbar / download free copy).
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leopold, Lucia M.; Mau, Steffen; Posvic, Matthias (2015): Professionalization in EU Policy-Making? The Topology of the Transnational Field of EU Affairs. European Societies 17 (4), 569–592. [link]
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Delius, Anna (2015): World Culture in European Memory Politics? New European memory agents between epistemic framing and political agenda setting. In: Journal of Contemporary European Studies 34 (3): 391-404.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2015): The 'World-Cultural' Constitution of Regions: Subnational Regional Mobilization from a World Society Perspective. In: Journal of Contemporary European Studies 34 (2): 193-207. - Also published in: Chris Rumford & Didem Buhari-Gulmez (eds.) (2016): Europe and World Society. London and New York: Routledge.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Mau, Steffen (2014): EU-Professionalismus als transnationales Feld. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 24 (2): 141-167 [link].
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leopold, Lucia M.; Mau, Steffen; Posvic, Matthias (2014): Actors and Dimensions of EU Affairs Professionalism - A topological review. Pre-Print of the DFG Research Unit "Horizontal Europeanization" 2014-01. [link]
Steffen Mau (2014): Europa zwischen Inklusion und Exklusion. In: Politisches Lernen 1/2: 5-11.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2014): Auf Karl Polanyis Spuren. Anmerkungen zu Wolfgang Streecks Krisendiagnose. Buchbesprechung im Rahmen des ZTS-Forums zu "Gekaufte Zeit" von Wolfgang Streeck. In: Zeitschrift für theoretische Soziologie 2 (1): 56-66.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2014): Der Mythos der territorialen Kohäsion der Europäischen Union. In: Martina Löw (Hrsg.): Vielfalt und Zusammenhalt, Verhandlungen des 36. Kongress der DGS in Bochum 2012. Teilband I. Frankfurt/Main; New York: Campus, S. 347-361.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2014): Unity in diversity? The standardized diversification of EU regions. In: Chris Rumford/Didem Buhari (eds.): European Multiplicity. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press: 69-88.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2014): Global trends in European regional development. EU Cohesion Policy and the case of region-building in Poland. In: Pertti Alasuutari & Ali Quadir (eds.): National Policy-Making: Domestication of Global Trends. London and New York: Routledge: 76-94.
Mau, Steffen (2014): Horizontale Europäisierung – Eine soziologische Perspektive. In: Ulrike Liebert/Jana Wolff (Hrsg.) Interdisziplinäre Europastudien. Wiesbaden: VS Springer.
Mau, Steffen; Mewes, Jan (2013): Horizontal Europeanization and identification with Europe. In: Richard McMahon (Hrsg.): Post-identity? Culture and European Integration (Routledge/ESA Studies in European Societies). London/New York: Routledge: 276-290.
Mau, Steffen; Steffek, Jens (2013): Transnationalismus und Transnationalisierung in der Soziologie und den IB. In: Leviathan. Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft (Sonderband 28 „Ordnungen und Wandel in der Weltpolitik. Konturen einer Soziologie der Internationalen Beziehungen. Hrsg. Stephan Stetter): 204-225.
Mau, Steffen (2013): European Middle Classes in Trouble? In: Perspectives on Europe, Summer 43 (1): 27-31.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2013): The world-cultural constitution of sub-national regions: Global trends in European regional development. In: Pertti Alasuutari & Ali Quadir (eds.): National Policy-Making. The Domestication of Global Trends. London & New York: Routledge
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2012): Mobilizing Regions, Mobilizing Europe: Expert Knowledge and Scientific Planning in European Regional Development. London and New York: Routledge.
Heidenreich, Martin; Delhey, Jan; Lahusen, Christian; Gerhards, Jürgen; Mau, Steffen; Münch, Richard; Pernicka, Susanne (2012): Europäische Vergesellschaftungsprozesse: Horizontale Europäisierung zwischen nationalstaatlicher und globaler Vergesellschaftung. Pre-print of the DFG Research Unit "Horizontal Europeanization" 2012-01.
Mau, Steffen; Mewes, Jan (2012): Horizontal Europeanization in Contextual Perspective: What drives cross-border interactions within the European Union? In: European Societies 14 (1): 7-34.
Mau, Steffen; Verwiebe, Roland (2012): Deutschland und Europa. Die Europäisierung der Sozial-struktur. In: Steffen Mau/Nadine M. Schöneck (eds.): Handwörterbuch zur Gesellschaft Deutschlands. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 170-183.
Presentations:
Zimmermann, Katharina, Gengnagel, Vincent, Baier, Christian, Büttner, Sebastian M.: The power of nomination – EU speech and the language games in research funding. Presentation at the” 25th International Conference of Europeanists (CES)”, Chicago, March 28-30, 2018.
Zimmermann, Katharina: Research on the Youth Employment Initiative in context. Guest lecture at the public master seminar “Youth in a Post-Crisis Europe: Policy Making and its Effects”, ISCTE-IUL Lisbon, September 21, 2017.
Zimmermann, Katharina; Oeltjen, Ole: Beyond Capacity, Conditionality, and Compliance – Putting the Youth Employment Initiative into practice. Presentation at the Special Issue Workshop “Youth in a Post-Crisis Europe: Regulatory approaches and their perceptions. ISCTE-IUL Lisbon, September 21-22, 2017.
Zimmermann, Katharina: Putting the Youth Employment Initiative into practice: implementation processes caught between European concepts, national conditions and local capacities? Presentation at the 24th International Conference of the Council for European Studies. Glasgow, July 12-14, 2017.
Leopold, Lucia; Büttner, Sebastian: Between elites and ‘the people’. EU-Professionals as intermediaries of European Integration? Presentation on the Midterm Workshop: Dynamics of Transnational Inequality in Europe. A Double Dualisation of European Societies?, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 25. September 2015.
Leopold, Lucia (2015): EU-Professionals als Prototypen transnationaler Wissensarbeit? Zur Herausbildung und Professionalisierung eines transnationalen Tätigkeitsbereichs. Presentation on the Conference "Knowledge-based professions in transnational perspective: cultures of gender, learning and work", Technischen Universität Berlin, 20. June 2015.
Büttner, Sebastian; Leopold, Lucia (2015): New Paths of Professionalization in EU Policy-Making: A Social Topology, Presentation on the 22. International Conference of Europeanists, 10. July 2015, Science Po, Paris.
Mau, Steffen (2014): Europa und europäische Identität. Presentation at the colloquium of the Institute of Sociology, University Duisburg-Essen, January 8, 2014.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2014): Von der Technokratie- zur Feldtheorie: EU-Professionalismus als transnationales Feld. Presentation at the colloquium of the chair for macrosociology occupied by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Gerhards, January 15, 2014.
Mau, Steffen (2013): Europa zwischen Inklusion und Exklusion. Presentation at the Landesforum politische Bildung North Rhine-Westphalia, University of Bochum, Novembre 19, 2013.
Mau, Steffen (2013): Krise und Transformation der europäischen Mittelschichten. University of Bamberg, 11./12. April 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2013): Regionale Unterschiede oder unerträgliche Disparitäten? Europäische Integration/Desintegration und ihre Wahrnehmung. Presentation at the conference „Ungleichheiten in Europa“at the Institute for Social Research Hamburg, Novembre 30, 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2013): Dimensionen und Grenzen der europäischen Vergesellschaftung? Presentation at the annual assembly of the „Jungen Europäischen Föderalisten“ (JEF), Bavaria group, Nuremberg, June 15, 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2013): The modernist thrust of the European Union. A critical assessment of EU integration from a world-polity perspective. Presentation at the panel “European integration revisited: from teleological to critical approach“ (RN 29 „Social Theory“) at the 11th ESA-conference in Turin, August 31, 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leopold, Lucia M.; Posvic, Matthias (2013): A “new spirit” of bureaucracy? The Projective World of EU Affairs Professionalism. Presentation at the panel “Innovation and Transformation - New Directions for Professionalism (RN “Sociology of Professions”) at the 11th ESA-conference in Turin (Italy), August 31, 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M.; Leidinger, Anna (2013): European memory politics as a world-cultural project: Transnational regulation, cosmopolitan rhetoric, and professional framing. Presentation at the panel “Culture, Heritage and Memory” (RN 07 “Sociology of Culture”) at the 11th ESA-conference in Turin (Italy), August 31, 2013.
Leopold, Lucia (2013): Supranational Professionalism – German Civil Society Networks and NGOs mediating between the European and the sub-national level. Presentation in the research stream “RN15 Global, transnational and cosmopolitan sociology” at the 11th ESA-conference in Turin (Italy), August 29, 2013.
Leopold, Lucia (2013): „Eine europäische Dimension vermitteln“ – Kompetenzen, Praktiken und Selbstbilder von Europa-professionals in Netzwerken und Bundesverbänden der organisierten Zivilgesellschaft in Deutschland. Presentation at the Symposium of the Doc-Network "Dynamiken sozialer Ungleichheit", Bremen, Novembre 29, 2013.
Büttner, Sebastian M. (2012): Der Mythos der territorialen Kohäsion. Ungleichheit und Entwicklung unter dem Regime der EU-Kohäsionspolitik. Presentation at the common plenum of the section for European sociology and the section for political sociology „Politische Ungleichheit und Zusammenhalt. Politik im Spannungsverhältnis von Heterogenisierung und Homogenisierung“ at the 36. DGS Kongress in Bochum and Dortmund, 1.-5. October 2012.
Leopold, Lucia (2012): Die Earth Charter Initiative als transnationaler zivilgesellschaftlicher Akteur. Poster presentation at the 36. DGS Congress in Bochum and Dortmund, 1.-5. October 2012.
Mau, Steffen (2012): Horizontale Europäisierung. Eine soziologische Perspektive. Speech at the lecture series "EUROPA forschend studieren. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven". Universtity of Bremen, 28. June 2012.
Steffen Mau (2012): Organisation and moderation of the special event “Europa in der Krise”, with Monika Eigmüller, Jürgen Gerhards, Richard Münch und Georg Vobruba at the 36. DGS Kongress in Bochum and Dortmund, 1.-5. October 2012.