Integration and politics

Abstract

Abstract The paper, based mainly on the thoughts of Durkheim, Tarde, Lefort and Rosanvallon, puts forward considerations from political philosophy, political theory, and political science on the old question of sociology: what keeps society together, what roles politics, political institutions, political ideologies and actions play in the integration. The main lesson drawn is that integration is to be approached in a much broader sense than national or state wide cohesion: integration should be researched on different levels above and below the nation. The paper focuses on the active and passive forms of political integration but some claims are also outlined on the mechanisms of social integration in general. Seven dimensions of integration seem relevant for research: community type, activities, ideology, objectivity versus perception, mental (cognitive and emotional), space, and time. Keywords: Émile Durkheim, Claude Lefort, political theory, political integration, multicultural citizenship, communication