Historical Usage of Europeanization in Academic Discourse

This article advances the ‘historical turn’ in Europeanization research by tracing the intellectual trajectory of Europeanization within the broader intellectual movements and debates. Using collocation and temporal analyses, the study identifies key patterns and significant shifts in the usage of Europeanization in social-humanities discourse over the past century. Initially, Europeanization referred to outward cultural changes, later evolving into a more inward-looking focus on policy and politics. Europeanization emerges as a multifaceted, multidirectional, and often contested process, marked by reversibility and adaptability. It is best understood as a complex, long-term, and non-linear process of interaction and diffusion, spanning racial, cultural, social, economic, political, as well as spatial and historical dimensions.