European Public Spheres

Thomas Risse is Professor of International Politics at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at the Freie Universität Berlin as well as co-ordinator of the Research Center 700 'Governance of Areas of Limited Statehood' and co-director of the Research College 'Transformative Power of Europe', both funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). He is one of the world's leading scholars of the international politics of European integration and his publications include A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (2010), The Persistent Power of Human Rights: From Commitment to Compliance (Cambridge, 2013, co-edited with Stephen C. Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink), External Actors, State-Building and Service Provision in Areas of Limited Statehood (2014, with Stephen D. Krasner) and Handbook of International Relations, 2nd edition (2013).

• 1. Introduction Thomas Risse; Part I. How to Grasp the Europeanization of Public Spheres: Theory, Methods, Empirics: 2. Theorizing communication flows within a European public sphere Barbara Pfetsch and Annett Heft; 3. How advanced is the Europeanization of public spheres? Comparing German and European structures of political communication Ruud Koopmans; 4. National media as transnational discourse arenas: the case of humanitarian military interventions Cathleen Kantner; 5. European issue publics online: the cases of climate change and fair trade W. Lance Bennett, Sabine Lang and Alexandra Segerberg; Part II. Consequences: Does the Europeanization of Public Spheres Matter?: 6. European public spheres, the politicization of EU affairs, and its consequences Thomas Risse; 7. Media and identity: the paradox of legitimacy and the making of European citizens Sarah Harrison and Michael Bruter; 8. The restructuring of political conflict in Europe and the politicization of European integration Edgar Grande and Hanspeter Kriesi; Part III. Theoretical and Normative Implications: 9. Identity, Europe and the world beyond public spheres Jeffrey T. Checkel; 10. Democracy, identity, and European public spheres Andreas Follesdal.

'Based on analytically and methodologically diverse, sophisticated and lively contributions, Thomas Risse and a group of leading scholars in this superb collection develop one powerful claim: the Europeanization of national and issue-specific publics is here to stay. Both indirectly and directly, Europeanization affects identities and interests that may be fragmenting or integrating but are always contested and profoundly political. For scholars who believe that public opinion research is the only way of thinking about the public, here is a powerful reminder from Europe that it is high time to think again.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr Professor of International Studies, Cornell University