European Identities During Wars And Revolutions

This book provides an up-to-date discussion of the effect of crises on European identities in the post-Soviet states. In doing so, the book presents an original study on dynamics of European identities during four crises in Georgia and Ukraine. More specifically, it considers the comparative impact of two colour revolutions and wars involving Russia on European identity constructions in Georgian and Ukrainian public identity discourses, studied through national mass media. It compares outcomes of change and continuity during such "big bang" events in identity discourses and establishes scope conditions that allow or inhibit change. The major finding of the study is that the selected events can indeed instigate sudden shifts in European identity discourses but only when the elite power structure also changes in such hybrid regimes, as Ukraine and Georgia. These changes include shifts in elite groups and in the relative power they hold in the overall power structure. Salome Minesashvili is Lecturer in International Relations, Political Science and Post-Soviet Politics at the Freie Universität Berlin and ESCP Europe, Germany. She is also Research Analyst at the Tbilisi-based think tank, Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP). She has published articles and book chapters on the topics of foreign policy analysis, identity politics, soft power politics, EU-Eastern Neighbourhood relations and transformation processes in the former Soviet Union.

This book provides an up-to-date discussion of the effect of crises on European identities in the post-Soviet states. In doing so, the book presents an original study on dynamics of European identities during four crises in Georgia and Ukraine. More specifically, it considers the comparative impact of two colour revolutions and wars involving Russia on European identity constructions in Georgian and Ukrainian public identity discourses, studied through national mass media. It compares outcomes of change and continuity during such “big bang” events in identity discourses and establishes scope conditions that allow or inhibit change. The major finding of the study is that the selected events can indeed instigate sudden shifts in European identity discourses but only when the elite power structure also changes in such hybrid regimes, as Ukraine and Georgia. These changes include shifts in elite groups and in the relative power they hold in the overall power structure.

The two concepts at the centre of this book: Europe, and the Second World War, are constantly changing in public perception. Now that 'Europe' is an even more contested idea than ever, this volume informs the current discourse on European identity by analysing Europe's reaction to the tragedy, heroism and disgrace of the Second World War.

The European Court of Human Rights has long held unparalleled sway over questions of human rights violations across continental Europe, Britain, and beyond. Both its supporters and detractors accept the common view that the European human rights system was originally devised as a means of containing communism and fascism after World War II. In The Conservative Human Rights Revolution, Marco Duranti radically reinterprets the origins of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), arguing that conservatives conceived of the treaty not only as a Cold War measure, but also as a vehicle for pursuing a controversial domestic political agenda on either side of the Channel. Just as the Supreme Court of the United States had sought to overturn Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, a European Court of Human Rights was meant to constrain the ability of democratically elected governments to implement left-wing policies that British and French conservatives believed violated their basic liberties. Conservative human rights rhetoric, Duranti argues, evoked a romantic Christian vision of Europe. Rather than follow the model of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, conservatives such as Winston Churchill grounded their appeals for new human rights safeguards in the values of a bygone European civilization. All told, these efforts served as a basis for reconciliation between Germans and the "West," the exclusion of communists from the European project, and the denial of equal protection to colonized peoples. Illuminating the history of internationalism and international law, and elucidating Churchill's Europeanism and critical contribution to the genesis of the ECHR, this book revisits the ethical foundations of European integration across the first half of the twentieth century and offers a new perspective on the crisis in which the European Union finds itself today.

After moving for ten plus years towards an ever closer union, the European Union and its citizens now face the choice whether to establish a full-fledged common polity. This decision requires a Europe-wide debate that includes the candidate states. European citizens must discuss what (if any) common values, principles and basic policies they share. A European identity involves the Union's institutions becoming rooted in the "soul" of the citizens, whatever its relationship might be to the existing national and local identities. Only then will the EU possess democratic legitimacy and support. These two volumes are written by authors with a political and intellectual interest in the European process. They discuss the EU's unprecedented character as a peacefull and voluntary union of peoples, its understandable obstacles encountered along the way to further integration, and the Union's less acceptable shortcomings. The first volume is written for the general reader. It examines the essential components of a European political identity in relation to democracy, citizenship, social justice, war and peace, freedom and borders. It also explores the history of this identity. The second volume is a collection of scientific essays. These provide in-depth analysis of fundamental aspects of European cultural identity such as religion, art and economic culture, myth and civil society. The two volumes can be read independently. However, we hope readers of either one will feel stimulated to reach for the other.

Making sense of the perplexing diversity of Europe is a challenging task. How compatible are national identities in Europe? What makes Europe European? What do Europeans have in common? European National Identities explores the diversity of European states, nations, and peoples. In doing so, the editors focus on the origins and elements of different national identities in Europe and different themes of national self-understanding. Each chapter contributes a unique view of national identities gravitating around myth, historical experiences and traumas, values, ethnic and linguistic differences, and religious fault lines. This work grounds European national identities within cultural, historical, and political dynamics, which makes the work approachable for many readers, including historians, sociologists, and political scientists. In addition, the editors illustrate that national identities continue to be a source of contention and a challenge to political developments, the demands of immigrants and minorities, and the dynamics of European integration. This book draws particular attention to identity shifts and conflicts within individual European countries.

A critical analysis of the idea of Europe and the limits and possibilities of a European identity in the broader perspective of history. This book argues that the crucial issue is the articulation of a new identity that is based on post-national citizenship rather than ambivalent notions of unity.

Highlighting the key events, ideas, and individuals that shaped modern Europe, this lively book provides a concise history of the continent from the Enlightenment to the present day. Drawing on the enduring theme of revolution, David S. Mason explores the political, economic, and scientific causes and consequences of revolution; the development of human rights and democracy; and issues of European identity and integration. He deliberately avoids a detailed chronology of every country and time period, instead emphasizing the most crucial events in shaping contemporary Europe. Fourteen focused chapters address such topical issues as the Enlightenment; the French Revolution and Napoleon; the Industrial Revolution; the theories and impact of Marx and Darwin; the revolutions of 1848, 1917, and 1989; the unifications of Germany and Italy; European imperialism; the two world wars; the Cold War; the evolution and expansion of the European Union; and current issues confronting Europe. Any reader who wants to view the broad sweep of European history will find this book an engaging narrative, supplemented with maps, timelines, sidebars, photos, and a glossary.