The Idea of Europe
From Antiquity to the European Union

Discusses how a distinctive 'European' identity has grown over the centuries, especially with the EU.

Anthony Pagden (Edited by)

9780521795524, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 April 2002

392 pages
23 x 15.3 x 2.2 cm, 0.53 kg

'… important and useful … What is immediately striking is the range of perspectives on offer. … Highly recommended to both general and specific audiences.' The Heythrop Journal

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.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Cultural studies [JFC], European history [HBJD]