The Idea of Europe: From Antiquity to the European Union (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)

Cambridge University Press
Edition: Highlighting, 9/8/2010
EAN 9780521795524, ISBN10: 0521795524

Paperback, 392 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English

The creation of the European Union and the progressive integration of the European states has raised serious questions about the existence of a distinctive European identity. Do the British share much in common with the French, or the French with the Danes? Will a unified Europe remain an economic and political possibility with no greater cultural or affective foundations? If there is something that distinguishes all Europeans, what is it, and how is it being changed by recent events? This book addresses these questions in essays ranging from ancient Greece to the end of the twentieth century. Their authors come from different intellectual backgrounds and represent differing intellectual traditions. They discuss questions of politics, religion, commerce, law, language, literature and affectivity. Taken together, they provide a powerful insight into the historical origins of the idea of Europe and into the future of the European Union.

Part I
Introduction Anthony Pagden
1. Europe
conceptualising a continent Anthony Pagden
2. Some Europes in their History J. G. A. Pocock
3. 'Europe' in the Middle Ages William Chester Jordan
4. The Republican mirror
the Dutch idea of Europe Hans Blom
5. The Napoleonic Empire and the Europe of nations Biancamaria Fontana
6. Homo politicus and homo oeconomicus
the European citizen according to Max Weber Wilfried Nippel
Part II
7. The European self rethinking an attitude Michael Herzfeld
8. European Nationalism and European Union Ariane Chebel d'Appollonia
9. From the ironies of identity to the identity of ironies Luisa Passerini
10. Muslims and European identity
can Europe represent Islam? Talal Asad
11. The long road to unity
the contribution of law to the process of European integration, 1945–1995 Philip Ruttley
12. The Euro, economic federalism and the question of national sovereignty Elie Cohen
13. Identity politics and European integration
the case of Germany Thomas Risse and Daniela Engelmann-Martin
14. Nationalism in Spain
the organization of Convivencia Andrés de Blas Guerrero
15. The Kantian idea of Europe
critical and cosmopolitan perspectives James Tully.

'Implicit in Pagden's fascinating, erudite and penetrating collection is a consoling message about the ongoing fertility and plurality of the - predominantly Western - European heritage. The very richness, diversity and historical depth of the sources underpinning the European project provide the last best hope of both Europhiles and Eurosceptics.' Colin Kidd, History of European Ideas