Europe: Society, Politics and Global Order

Interdisciplinary research on Europe

Contact: Prof. Hylke Dijkstra (Director) and Dr. Toon van Overbeke (Academic Secretary)

Founded in 2003, Europe: Society, Politics and Global Order (ESPO) is an interdisciplinary research programme at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University. It brings together 50 political scientists, historians and philosophers. The process of European integration since 1945 and questions of European democracy, governance, and foreign policy are central to the ESPO research agenda. ESPO researchers study the European Union and Europeanisation, yet they also contribute to debates on multilateralism and the global order, and take an interest in transnational history. Methodologically rigorous, the emphasis of ESPO is on fundamental research with societal relevance.

View recent ESPO publications

Research clusters

ESPO works in four research clusters:

European Policy and Governance
Europe and the Crisis of Rule-Based Global Order
Democracy in Europe: Past and Present
Political attitudes and behaviour in Europe

European Policy and Governance

The cluster European Policy and Governance concentrates on the contemporary events, developments and debates related to the European public policy process.

For more information about this cluster, please visit the research clusters webpage.

Europe and the Crisis of Rule-Based Global Order

The cluster Europe and the Crisis of Rule-Based Global Order examines the ability of the EU to promote rules-based order in the European neighbourhood and global governance.

For more information about this cluster, please visit the research clusters webpage.

Democracy in Europe: Past and Present

The cluster Democracy in Europe: Past and Present focuses on the evolution, the dynamics, the institutional forms, and the contested nature of democracy across time and space.

For more information about this cluster, please visit the research clusters webpage.

Political attitudes and behaviour in Europe

The cluster Political attitudes and behaviour in Europe focuses on topics such as political attitudes, political behaviour, representation, responsiveness, policy preferences, legitimacy, citizenship, and emotions in politics.

For more information about this cluster, please visit the research clusters webpage.

ESPO research in the picture

Giselle Bosse about how the Hungarian EU presidency upsets Brussels

Hylke Dijkstra about multilateralism in Europe

Mariëlle Wijermars about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing far-right sentiment

Sophie Vanhoonacker about the shifting world order

Karin van Leeuwen about 'who calls the shots' in Europe

Christine Neuhold about the relationship between the Dutch parliament and the EU

Esther Versluis about our (in)tolerance for uncertainty

News

Toon van Overbeke awarded Sabina Avdagic Early Career Scholar Prize for Best Paper in Comparative Capitalism

Researchers

The award recognises exceptional work by early-career researchers while honouring her enduring contributions to the study of labour markets, welfare states and comparative political economy, as well as her longstanding commitment to supporting the next generation of scholars.

Giselle Bosse awarded €800,000 NWO grant for research on women and everyday democracy

Researchers

Whereas conventional analyses of democratisation tend to focus on formal institutions, elections and political reforms, this project shifts attention to how democracy is lived and practised in everyday settings such as families, neighbourhoods, workplaces and communities.

Hylke Dijkstra appointed UM Europe Chair at Studio Europa Maastricht

UM news

Hylke Dijkstra will join Studio Europa Maastricht as Maastricht University (UM) Europe Chair on 1 September 2026.

FASoS Faculty Board composition as of September 2026

Esther Versluis will take up the position of dean of the faculty. Patrick Bijsmans will continue in his role as Associate Dean for Education. Darian Meacham will join the Faculty Board as Associate Dean for Research.

Maastricht University researchers lead €6.6 million NWO project on knowledge security

Maastricht researchers Prof. Dr. Hylke Dijkstra and Dr. Mariëlle Wijermars have received a €6.6 million research grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to study knowledge security in the Netherlands and Europe.