European integration and sociology: The difficult balance between the theoretical, empirical and critical approach

Abstract

This is a review article on Goran Therborn's European Modernity and Beyond (1995), one of the most important recent analyses of the 'Trajectory of European Societies' in the second half of the twentieth century. The article discusses, by way of example, three general issues treated in Therborn's book: the pattern of socioeconomic development and growth; the issue of European versus national identity; and the (Nordic) welfare state as a model for Europe. Special emphasis is laid on the issue to what degree these processes are specific to Europe and how the theoretical-analytical, empirical and critical functions of sociology can be brought together in a fruitful way.