Overview

The word Eurocracy has resonance throughout out Europe but in reality we know little about the people who work in and around the EU or how they fit into its large bureaucratic framework. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book addresses this problem by exploring the MEPs, diplomats, civil servants and commissioners that work in and around the EU.

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9781349451562

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Didier Georgakakis and Jay Rowell have put together a thought-provoking volume on 'the field of Eurocracy'. Contributors provide a wealth of information on the EU's actors while introducing a new sociological, actor-centred perspective which provides a welcome supplement (or even antidote) to more conventional studies of the European institutions.' - Michelle Cini, Professor of European Politics, University of Bristol, UK and Co-editor, Journal of Common Market Studies 'The institutions of the European Union, despite valiant efforts to increase their transparency, remain puzzling to specialists and citizens alike, encouraging reductionisms such as that of a tentacular and all-powerful 'Brussels bureaucracy.' There are bureaucrats in Brussels, they are divided, functionally dispersed and, while very competent, much less powerful than such myths make them out to be. This excellent volume helps greatly to map 'Eurocracy' and demolish these myths. At a moment when the project for building a new Europe is under siege, such contributions are essential.' - George Ross, ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet, Universite de Montreal, Canada; Emeritus, Brandeis University, USA and Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, USA 'Forty-five years after A. Spinelli's 'The Eurocrats', this is the first book to systematically deploy the concepts, analytical tools and methodology of contemporary sociology to the study of the European Union institutions. An entirely original perspectives on the institutions and the people who work for them thus emerges. Specialists of European affaires, scholars and students in politics, administration and sociology as well as citizens will develop a new understanding of who rules the EU institutions and why, sociologically speaking, the European project appears to be in crisis.' Juan Diez Medrano, Professor of Sociology, Universidad de Barcelona, Spain and Chair of the Council for European Studies

'Didier Georgakakis and Jay Rowell have put together a thought-provoking volume on 'the field of Eurocracy'. Contributors provide a wealth of information on the EU's actors while introducing a new sociological, actor-centred perspective which provides a welcome supplement (or even antidote) to more conventional studies of the European institutions.' - Michelle Cini, Professor of European Politics, University of Bristol, UK and Co-editor, Journal of Common Market Studies 'The institutions of the European Union, despite valiant efforts to increase their transparency, remain puzzling to specialists and citizens alike, encouraging reductionisms such as that of a tentacular and all-powerful 'Brussels bureaucracy.' There are bureaucrats in Brussels, they are divided, functionally dispersed and, while very competent, much less powerful than such myths make them out to be. This excellent volume helps greatly to map 'Eurocracy' and demolish these myths. At a moment when the project for building a new Europe is under siege, such contributions are essential.' - George Ross, ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet, Universite de Montreal, Canada; Emeritus, Brandeis University, USA and Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, USA 'Forty-five years after A. Spinelli's 'The Eurocrats', this is the first book to systematically deploy the concepts, analytical tools and methodology of contemporary sociology to the study of the European Union institutions. An entirely original perspectives on the institutions and the people who work for them thus emerges. Specialists of European affaires, scholars and students in politics, administration and sociology as well as citizens will develop a new understanding of who rules the EU institutions and why, sociologically speaking, the European project appears to be in crisis.' Juan Diez Medrano, Professor of Sociology, Universidad de Barcelona, Spain and Chair of the Council for European Studies

'Didier Georgakakis and Jay Rowell have put together a thought-provoking volume on 'the field of Eurocracy'. Contributors provide a wealth of information on the EU's actors while introducing a new sociological, actor-centred perspective which provides a welcome supplement (or even antidote) to more conventional studies of the European institutions.' - Michelle Cini, Professor of European Politics, University of Bristol, UK and Co-editor, Journal of Common Market Studies 'The institutions of the European Union, despite valiant efforts to increase their transparency, remain puzzling to specialists and citizens alike, encouraging reductionisms such as that of a tentacular and all-powerful 'Brussels bureaucracy.' There are bureaucrats in Brussels, they are divided, functionally dispersed and, while very competent, much less powerful than such myths make them out to be. This excellent volume helps greatly to map 'Eurocracy' and demolish these myths. At a moment when the project for building a new Europe is under siege, such contributions are essential.' - George Ross, ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet, Universite de Montreal, Canada; Emeritus, Brandeis University, USA and Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, USA 'Forty-five years after A. Spinelli's 'The Eurocrats', this is the first book to systematically deploy the concepts, analytical tools and methodology of contemporary sociology to the study of the European Union institutions. An entirely original perspectives on the institutions and the people who work for them thus emerges. Specialists of European affaires, scholars and students in politics, administration and sociology as well as citizens will develop a new understanding of who rules the EU institutions and why, sociologically speaking, the European project appears to be in crisis.' Juan Diez Medrano, Professor of Sociology, Universidad de Barcelona, Spain and Chair of the Council for European Studies

Author Information

Philippe Aldrin, Sciences Po Aix, France Willy Beauvallet, University of Strasbourg, France Filippa Chatzistavrou, ELIAMEP foundation, Athens, Greece Guillaume Courty, Sciences Po Lille, France François-Xavier Dudouet, University of Paris-Dauphine, France Eric Grémont, Observatory of Capitalist structures (OpesC) Frederic Lebaron, University of Picardie, France Sébastien Michon, University of Strasbourg, France Hélénè Michel, University of Strasbourg, France Audrey Pageaut, University of Strasbourg, France Cécile Robert, Sciences Po Lyon, France Antoine Vion, University of Aix-Marseille, France Anne-Catherine, University of Paris I Sorbonne, France

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