Constructing Europe

The development of the European Union has been one of the most profound advances in European politics and society this century. Yet the institutions of Europe and the 'Eurocrats' who work in them have constantly attracted negative publicity, culminating in the mass resignation of the European Commissioners in March 1999. In this revealing study, Cris Shore scrutinises the process of European integration using the techniques of anthropology, and drawing on thought from across the social sciences. Using the findings of numerous interviews with EU employees, he reveals that there is not just a subculture of corruption within the institutions of Europe, but that their problems are largely a result of the way the EU itself is constituted and run. He argues that European integration has largely failed in bringing about anything but an ever-closer integration of the technical, political and financial elites of Europe - at the expense of its ordinary citizens. This critical anthropology of European integration is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the culture and politics of the EU.

As a part of the activities that will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award, this catalogue explains the value of the Prize as a platform for discovery and debate about two main topics: the historical value of the Prize as a demonstration of the significance of European architecture, and the Award's role as a mechanism for bringing up topics of concern in today's European architecture, and as a process that contributes to building an architectural and urban discourse, both in Europe and throughout the world. The works of the last 25 years are essential tools for defining the future in the upcoming years.

Informal dimensions of European integration have received limited academic attention to date, despite their historical and contemporary importance. Particularly studies in European integration history, while frequently mentioning informal processes, have as yet rarely conceptualised the study of informality in European integration, and thus fail usually to systematically analyse conditions, impact and consequences of informal action. Including case studies that discuss both successful and failed examples of informal action in European integration, this book assembles cutting-edge research by both early-career and more experienced scholars from all over Europe to fill this lacuna. The chapters of this volume offer a guide to the study of informality and show how informality has impacted European integration history and the functioning of the EC/EU as well as other European organisations in a variety of ways. Reflecting the diversity of studies within this burgeoning field of research, within and across several academic disciplines, the book approaches the informal dimensions of European integration from different disciplinary, methodological and thematic angles. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of European integration, EU politics/studies, European politics, European Union history, and more broadly to comparative politics and international relations.

The authors assess not only the benefits, but also the costs of attempts to assert a European identity. Referring to debates about the respective merits of deepening and widening, they address the equally important associated tradeoffs between exclusion and dilution: they point to the risks on the one hand of a Europe that excludes foreign goods, immigrants and entire countries, and on the other of an unfocused definition of Europe that may dilute the very values that a "European identity" is intended to protect.

The main objective of this publication is establishing an understanding of the process of European integration and hence the current European Union that has resulted from this process. As this is a complicated development that includes many different areas, this book will focus on the main fields in which the integration has been settled; politics, economy, law, and social aspects. Thus, a comprehensive approach to all these fields will provide both general and professional readers with sufficient knowledge to understand the process and form their own opinion about it. Each chapter has been developed independently, and hence can be read autonomously in order to understand a specific topic, policy, or problem in the European Union. Reading of the full book will provide a wide perspective of the process, as the chapters are connected; forming different groups based on similar themes, the combination of these wider groups providing the general approach to the whole process of European integration.

The book presents the project results from the Cultural Patterns of the European Enlargement Process (CULTPAT). Based on a qualitative, trans-disciplinary, social science approach, the study combines analytical skills from the fields of contemporary anthropology, political science, and history of ideas. The book reconstructs the cultural patterns of identity constructions on a local/regional, national, and European level since 1989/1990. It draws special attention to the fields of political discourse and policy making, which are perceived through conflicting representations on the said levels and seen as a potential danger posed by or to the enlargement process. (Series: Cultural Patterns of Politics - Vol. 2)

Based on a 12-year long project, this book demonstrates the contested character of the communicative construction of Europe. It does so by combining an investigation of journalistic practices with content analysis of print media, an examination of citizens' online interactions and audience studies with European citizens.

Relying on internal sources, Wilfried Loth analyses the birth and subsequent development of the European Union, from the launch of the Council of Europe and the Schuman Declaration until the Euro crisis and the contested European presidential election of Jean-Claude Juncker. This book shines a light on the crises of the European integration, such as the failure of the European Defence Community, De Gaulle’s empty chair policy, or the rejection of the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, but also highlights the indubitable successes that are the Franco-German reconciliation, the establishment of the European common market, and the establishment of an expanding common currency. What this study accomplishes, for the first time, is to illuminate the driving forces behind the European integration process and how it changed European politics and society. “An enlightening work. Arequired reading for all who doubt the unfinished history of Europe.” – Rolf Steininger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “This book will become an indispensable standard work.” – Jörg Himmelreich, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.