European Stories Intellectual Debates on Europe in National Contexts

by Lacroix, Justine; Nicolaidis, Kalypso

• ISBN13: 9780199594627
• ISBN10: 0199594627
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

European Stories takes a new look at debates about European Integration by examining the role of "public intellectuals"--political philosophers, scholars, editorialists or writers--who contribute to framing the attitude of European publics to Europe and the EU. While there is an enormous literature on the role of intellectuals considered generally or in their distinct national contexts, there is precious little on their take on European integration in the post-war period. This book is ambitious: it aims to provide an overview of how thinking about Europe is expressed within distinct epistemological contexts and how different ideological configurations are shaped across time and space. Twelve national cases have been selected--including founding and newer member EU members as well as non-member states--in order to offer a wide range of contrasting intellectual contexts. Contributors are all themselves fully immersed in the respective national public spheres although the editors have been careful to choose colleagues who are not strongly identified with a very specific and contested position on the national spectrum. The expected readership is broad and interdisciplinary, ranging from political philosophy, to political science, history, sociology, and international relations. Hence, the volume should become a reference book for courses on European integration and European identity considered generally, as well as European history, history of ideas, and contemporary political theory. Beyond academia, it should be of interest to journalists as well as a more general readership interested either in European issues or the intellectual debates of our time. European Stories is the first book published in English on this topic and will hopefully encourage the development of further research.

Author Biography

Justine Lacroix is Associate Professor of Politics at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. She is the author of a number books and articles which have appeared in numerous journals including Political Studies, European Journal of Political Theory, Politics, European Political Science, Critique, and others.

Kalypso Nicolaidis is Director of the European Studies Centre at Oxford University and Fellow at St. Anthonys College. She is also a member of the EU reflection group on the Future of Europe (2020-2030) chaired by Felipe Gonzales, was Associate Professor at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, and has also held Visiting Professorships around Europe. Her publications have appeared in numerous journals including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Journal of Common Market Studies, and her books include The Federal Vision (OUP 2001), In the Long Shadow of Europe, and Mediterranean Frontiers.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. xii
List of Tables	p. xiii
List of Contributors	p. xiv
Note on the Jacket Illustration	p. xx
European Stories; An Introduction	p. 1
Themes
Lost in Universalization? On the Difficulty of Localizing the European Intellectual	p. 31
Contentious European Democracy: National Intellectuals in Transnational Debates	p. 50
On European and Other Intellectuals	p. 77
Founders
In the Shadows of Statism: Peculiarities of the German Debates on European Integration	p. 87
'Borderline Europe': French Visions of the European Union	p. 105
Italy and the Idea of Europe	p. 122
Joiners
Mid-Atlantic Musings: The 'Question of Europe' in British Intellectual Debates 1961-2008	p. 147
European Stories as National Narratives: Irish Intellectuals on Europe	p. 167
Europe Othered, Europe Enlisted, Europe Possessed: Greek Public Intellectuals and the European Union	p. 183
Consensus, Benign Neglect and Specialized Knowledge: Spanish Intellectuals and Europe	p. 203
Returners
Between Old Fears and New Challenges: The Polish Debate on Europe	p. 221
The Geopolitics of the European Spirit in Post-Secular Romania	p. 241
The World of the Two Václavs: European-Minded vs. National(ist) Intellectuals in Czechia	p. 257
Outliers
Progressive Nationalism? Norwegian Intellectuals and Europe	p. 277
Convergence and Resistance: The European Dilemma of Turkish Intellectuals	p. 294
One Story or Many?
Europe's Political Identity: Public Sphere and Public Opinion	p. 315
Conclusion: Echoes and Polyphony: In Praise of Europe's Narrative Diversity	p. 334
References	p. 363
Index	p. 401
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