Introduction: Towards a Multi-Faceted Approach to Politicisation in the EU Context

In recent years, internal European Union (EU) debates on migration, Brexit, the Eurozone, trade and the rule of law, among others, have focused on the legitimacy of the EU and the dissatisfaction of European citizens vis-à-vis the European project. The introduction to this book lays out the relevance of conceptual, empirical, and normative perspectives on EU politicisation, which has often been addressed by scholars in a rather negative light. Far from being a ‘descriptive’ and only ‘empirical’ approach, the introduction aims to re-conceptualise the understanding of EU politicisation by shifting the attention away from the traditional consensus-oriented understanding of European integration. Bringing together different disciplinary approaches, the introduction puts forward an innovative and politically aware attempt to conceive politicisation in a multi-faceted and heterogenous way. Lastly, we describe the narrative and design of the book, introducing each of the chapters that compose the three thematic clusters.