The aim of the seminar is to present and discuss the evolution and the current configurations of one of the fundamental frameworks through which politics has been most commonly approached, both practically and analytically: the distinction between the domestic and the international sphere.

The seminar first introduces the historical and conceptual context within which traditional notions of the relation between the internal and external dimensions of politics have developed and attested as the ‘normal’ way to practice and conceive of the latter.

The seminar then focuses on the dramatic changes that this fundamental divide have been undergoing, and how the they have been thought of as manifestations of the multifaceted phenomenon commonly known as ‘globalisation’.

The European integration process is then presented as a set of processes, institutions, procedures and principles that emerged/were designed to respond to – and at the same time feed – these crucial shifts, resulting in the largely unprecedented polity the is the European Union.  

In doing so, the concepts of sovereignty, power and influence are presented, together with the basics of International Relations and European integration theories, in order to understand how the integration process has contributed to their redefinition. 

Recommended readings

Lumsdaine, David. "The intertwining of international and domestic politics." Polity 29.2, 1996: 299-306.

Hix, Simon. “The European Union as a polity (I).” Handbook of European Union Politics. 2007: 141-158.

Sweeney, Simon. Europe, the state and globalisation. Routledge, 2014.