The European Studies Unit conducts sociological research on European integration processes. Sociology of European integration takes a “bottom-up” approach, in contrast to the “top-down” perspective that still dominates research on the European Union and European integration. The Unit’s work focuses primarily on the Europeanization and democratization processes of member state societies; the political, social and cultural factors and consequences of European integration; intra-EU mobility and migration processes and migrant integration approaches at the EU, national and local levels; the sources of support for the European integration as well as attitudes towards EU enlargement and related social and political processes.

The significance of this perspective stems from the fact that without social support, the existence of such a complex organism as the European Union would not be possible. At the same time, understanding the socio-political and cultural consequences of European integration processes is essential not only for understanding the sources of support for the European project, but also for better understanding the results of research that takes a “top-down” perspective, and for designing policies at EU level.

The European Studies Unit’s research draws on a variety of sociological theories, including sociology of culture, sociology of social movements, sociology of organizations, sociology of knowledge, sociology of politics, and sociology of migration.

Contact details:

Dr. hab. Joanna Fomina, Professor at IFiS PAN: joanna.fomina@ifispan.edu.pl

Dr Edit Zgut-Przybylska, IFiS PAN: edit.zgut@ifispan.edu.pl

Supervision of PhD dissertations from January 2025