EU487 Half Unit
European Integration from a Global Governance Perspective
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Mareike Kleine
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Columbia), MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Sciences Po), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy, MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Economy of Europe in the World, MSc in Political Economy of Europe in the World (LSE and Fudan) and MSc in Political Economy of Europe in the World (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
To apply for a place, ALL students should submit a statement via LSE for You outlining your specific reasons for applying, how it will benefit your academic/career goals, and how you meet any necessary pre-requisites (maximum 200 words).
The first round of offers will be made from 12-noon on Friday 26 September. The final deadline for applications is 12-noon of Friday of Autumn Term week 2.
For queries contact: ei@lse.ac.uk
This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically very high. Priority is given to students from the European Institute, so students from outside this department may not get a place.
Course content
Distances on a world scale are shrinking through the emergence and thickening of networks of connection—a process commonly referred to as globalisation. This process is far from complete, with Europe being highly integrated while other regions lag behind. At the same time, globalisation and European integration face mounting pressures from geopolitical tensions, rising authoritarianism, economic protectionism, and democratic backsliding, challenging the foundations of the liberal order.
This course engages with recent positive and normative scholarship across various disciplines on governance in and beyond Europe. Putting European integration in a global and comparative perspective promises to illuminate current public and scholarly debates about the nature and future of European integration. We study these questions through four key issues: the nature of globalization; its actors, institutions, and processes; the form and scope of governance; and its normative implications.
For each of these themes, European integration will serve as the principal case study, examined in light of developments elsewhere in the world. The course provides students with a conceptual and thematic overview of European integration as a phenomenon of global governance. Rather than offering a descriptive introduction to specific global governance institutions or policy fields, the course is structured around current public and academic debates on European integration and global governance. These debates are analysed from the perspectives of political science and political economy, while also engaging with recent scholarship in Comparative Politics and Political Theory.
Teaching
15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
Formative assessment
Research paper
Research paper
Students are required to summit a draft and a final non-assessed research paper outline in the WT.
Indicative reading
- Weiss, Thomas G., and Rorden Wilkinson (eds.). 2018. International Organization and Global Governance (2nd edition). Oxon and New York: Routledge.
- Schneider, Christina J. 2017. The political economy of regional integration. Annual Review of Political Science 20: 229-248.
- Rodrik, Dani. 2000. How Far Will International Economic Integration Go? The Journal of Economic Perspectives 14 (1): 177-186.
Assessment
Essay (100%, 5000 words)
Students submit by the beginning of the following term a 5,000 word research essay. Deadlines to be confirmed in class.
Key facts
Department: European Institute
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 48
Average class size 2024/25: 16
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills