This article suggests that the neofunctionalist theoretical legacy left
by Ernst B. Haas is somewhat richer and more prescient than many contemporary
discussants allow. The article develops an argument for routine and detailed rereading of the corpus of neofunctionalist work (and that of Haas in particular),
not only to disabuse contemporary students and scholars of the normally static
and stylized reading that discussion of the theory provokes, but also to suggest
that the conceptual repertoire of neofunctionalism is able to speak directly to
current EU studies and comparative regionalism. Neofunctionalism is situated in
its social scientific context before the theory’s supposed erroneous reliance on the
concept of ‘spillover’ is discussed critically. A case is then made for viewing Haas’s neofunctionalism as a dynamic theory that not only corresponded to established social scientific norms, but did so in ways that were consistent with disciplinary openness and pluralism.