JCMS Special Issue 2013: ‘Confronting Euroscepticism’. Editors: Dr Simon Usherwood, Dr Nick Startin & Dr Simona Guerra
Continuity and Change in the Study of Euroscepticism: Plus ça change?*
SOFIA VASILOPOULOU,
Corresponding Author
SOFIA VASILOPOULOU
University of York
Sofia Vasilopoulou, Department of Politics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK, email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
SOFIA VASILOPOULOU,
Corresponding Author
SOFIA VASILOPOULOU
University of York
Sofia Vasilopoulou, Department of Politics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK, email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
†
A previous version of this article was presented in a JCMS-sponsored workshop on Euroscepticism at the University of Surrey, February 2012. I would like to thank the participants of the workshop for their advice and feedback – especially the three editors Simona Guerra, Nick Startin and Simon Usherwood. I would also like to thank the two anonymous referees for their insightful comments. The title of this article is borrowed from Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr's famous ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’.
Abstract
Euroscepticism has been treated as a marginal phenomenon in European Union studies. It has been portrayed as exceptional, belonging to the realm of pariah politics. This article contests this view arguing that although the term was first coined during the mid-1980s in Britain, its features were present since the early stages of integration. Pointing to its changing nature over time, it calls for a holistic approach that would examine the phenomenon beyond the study of party politics and public opinion. It urges scholars to explicitly treat Euroscepticism as an ‘independent’ as well as a ‘dependent’ variable. The next generation of Euroscepticism should be performing comparative analysis identifying and explaining different patterns of opposition to the EU, and focusing on their implications for the process of European integration, the direction of EU policy, domestic European politics and the development of EU studies.
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