The Politics of Crisis in Europe

An analysis of the repeated existential crises affecting the resilience of the European Union in the twenty-first century.

Mai'a K. Davis Cross (Author)

9781316602355, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 January 2017

258 pages, 16 b/w illus. 11 tables
23 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

'The Politics of Crisis in Europe is a provocative, compelling, and important contribution to the fields of European Union Politics, European Political Economy, and to broader literatures on conceptualising crisis. It reveals a pattern in media coverage of EU politics that tends to view challenges, setbacks, and disputes in hyperbolic frames as 'threats to the EU's continued viability'. … This is a timely argument, and one that deserves serious attention.' Neil Dooley, EuropeNow

The Politics of Crisis in Europe explores the resilience of the European Union in the face of repeated crises perceived to threaten its very existence. While it is often observed after the fact that these crises serve as opportunities for integration, this is the first critical analysis to suggest that we cannot fully understand the nature and severity of these crises without recognising the role of societal reaction to events and the nature of social narratives about crisis, especially those advanced by the media. Through a close examination of the 2003 Iraq crisis, the 2005 constitutional crisis, and the 2010–12 Eurozone crisis, this book identifies a pattern across these episodes, demonstrating how narratives about crises provide the means to openly air underlying societal tensions that would otherwise remain under the surface, impeding further integration.

1. A Europe of crises
2. Explaining existential crises
3. The Iraq crisis
4. The constitutional treaty crisis
5. The Eurozone crisis
Conclusion
References and index.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Economic & financial crises & disasters [KCX], Political economy [KCP], EU & European institutions [JPSN2], International relations [JPS], Political structure & processes [JPH], Politics & government [JP], Iraq War [HBWS5], Social & cultural history [HBTB], 21st century history: from c 2000 - [HBLX]