Emergency politics beyond the state: Europe’s exceptional transformation

ABSTRACT: Crises often provoke political reactions that bend or suspend established rules and norms. While this phenomenon has found constitutional expression in the ‘state of exception’ at the domestic level, contingencies that cross borders, such as the Euro crisis or Covid-19, incite new forms of emergency politics beyond the state. This panel discussion explores the dynamics, drivers and consequences of today’s exceptional politics in the European Union. Departing from two recent books by Kreuder-Sonnen and White, the speakers examine how the script of emergency rule gets transferred to the transnational setting, how it shapes the public communication of EU actors, and what questions of legitimacy arise. The discussion builds on a Debate Section forthcoming in the Journal of European Public Policy.

Speakers:

• Jonathan P. White, Deputy Head of the LSE European Institute and Professor in Politics (LSE)
• Christian Kreuder-Sonnen, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Organizations (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
• Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration; Professor of International Relations and Political Science (Boston University)
• Christian Rauh, Political scientist in the Global Governance unit of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center
• Berthold Rittberger, Chair of Political Science and International Relations (LMU Munich)

Discussant: Chris Bickerton, University Lecturer in politics (University of Cambridge)
Chair: Claudia Sternberg, European Institute

Find more information on the UCL European Politics Series, including our full programme, here.