Das Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften: Veranstaltungen

Donnerstag, 24.07.2025, 11:00 Uhr
Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Am Wingertsberg 4, 61348 Bad Homburg

Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften der Goethe-Universität
FKH Kolloquium

Sandra Seubert (Goethe University Frankfurt)
»The Future of European citizenship. Foundations and consequences of a citizen-centered perspective on the EU«

Abstract
The Maastricht Treaty (1992) introduced the concept of »Union citizenship«, which can be regarded as the first institutionally effective form of transnational citizenship. More than 30 years after its introduction, however, it now appears that the EU has »overstreched« itself with promises of citizenship. The optimism expressed in the introduction of a European citizenship status, which was followed by the establishment of a Constitutional Convention in 2002/03, now seems rather outdated. Right-wing populist attacks and growing skepticism towards the EU, which is currently finding public expression in a competition to announce border controls, reveal deep doubts about the legitimacy and functionality of the existing European institutions. The presentation argues why the further development of European citizenship is nevertheless absolutely necessary and, at the same time, completely uncertain. Adopting a citizen-centered perspective on the EU has radical implications and challenges the dominant state-centric perspective. As a political process rather than a (legal) status, enactments of citizenship themselves are necessary to give substance to the status, which will involve protecting fundamental democratic rights and strengthening powers at European level.

Redner
Sandra Seubert is professor of Political Theory at Goethe University. She is also co-speaker of the DFG Research Training Group »Standards of Governance«, an interdisciplinary research initiative of the TU Darmstadt and the Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research concentrates on the field of modern democratic theory, in particular on theories of transnational citizenship as well as the political theory of privacy. In 2019/20 she was Alfred Grosser Visiting professor at Sciences Po Paris; 2018–2023 she was a Goethe Fellow at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften.

Teilnahme
Geschlossene Veranstaltung. Kontakt: Beate Sutterlüty; E-Mail: b.sutterluety@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de