Summary

I am Professor of European Studies in the School of Area Studies, Politics, History and Literary Studies. Together with Dr Angela Crack I lead the interdisciplinary Transnational Politics and Society research group within the Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR). I also contribute to the activities of the linked European Union funded Centre of Excellence for the Study of Transnational Europe (CESTE).

I am currently working on linked projects on the history, politics, and narratives of (European) regional integration. I have recently published a study on the European Parliament’s role in advocating the institutional reform of the European Communities between 1979 and 1989. I am also cooperating with the House of European History in Brussels, Belgium, on a project on contested or shared narratives of Europe’s twentieth-century history, and with the Centre for Global Cooperation Research in Duisburg, Germany, on another project on narratives and counter-narratives of regional integration. I plan to start a new research line to focus on the role of inter-regional networks of societal actors in the (attempted) transfer of (European) regional integration to other world regions.

Biography

I am Professor of European Studies at the University of Portsmouth. I also teach a course at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. I have many European and global networks and institutional connections.

Research interests

My research is located in the fields of global and transnational history and politics. I focus especially on the history and politics of Europe, the European Union, and of international organizations, the transnational relations of societal actors and narratives of the past and their uses in contemporary politics. Ongoing research includes:

• History and politics of Christian democracy
• History of European cooperation and integration
• History and politics of the European Parliament and its political groups
• Narratives and counter-narratives of (European) regional cooperation
• Processes of constitutionalizing the European Union
• Promotion of democracy and transfers of European regional integration to other world regions

Teaching responsibilities

I contribute widely to postgraduate and undergraduate teaching in European Studies, Politics, International Relations and History, with a particular focus on the history, politics, and external relations of European countries, the European Union, and international organizations. Alongside supervising PhD research I also contribute to MA and BA dissertation supervision.

Media availability

I am happy to take calls and emails from media on my research, and I am aware of the need to respond to journalists in a timely manner. Enquiries should be directed to me by email in the first instance, at Wolfram.Kaiser@port.ac.uk