European Integration Since the 1920s
Security, Identity, and Cooperation
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:14th Nov '24
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Brexit, populism, and Euroscepticism seem to have challenged old assumptions about European integration and raised the prospect of disintegration. This book re-examines why the European Union and its forerunners were created and investigates how and why they have changed. It links contemporary events to historical explanation, arguing that there were long-term sets of conditions, dating back to the 1920s, which pushed European governments to cooperate economically and to try to resolve their diplomatic differences. The failure of the French and German governments to create what Aristide Briand had called a 'European federal union' demonstrated both the precariousness of the enterprise and its connection to the domestic politics of European states. After 1945, the unexpected advent of a 'Cold War' and the military, diplomatic and economic presence of the United States in Europe facilitated the gradual development of habits of cooperation and institutional 'integration', but they also placed limits on European governments' activities, as did disagreements between political parties and the expectations of citizens. As a consequence, supranational bodies such as the European Commission have been accompanied - and often overshadowed - by intergovernmental institutions such as the European Council, with the EU as a whole functioning in important respects as a type of confederation. The volume addresses a series of large-scale historical questions which are integral to an understanding of the European Union. It asks how and why citizens of member states have identified with the EU; how matters of 'security' affected the development of the European Community during and after the Cold War; whether economic and social convergence have taken place, and with what consequences; and why European institutions have come to function as they have. The study is thematic, focusing on the most important aspects of European integration and explaining why member states have decided to carry out - or have consented to - the unique experiment of the European Union.
European Integration Since the 1920s is an ambitious work that seeks to tackle many important dimensions of European cooperation and integration history. By placing much more emphasis than many other works on the themes of identity, culture, "Europe" as an idea, and shared "European" experiences, Hewitson manages to present a study that exceeds more traditional case- and event-centred diplomatic political histories of European integration processes. * Emiel Geurts, H-Soz-Kult *
Hewitson (German history and policies, Univ. College London) does not examine European integration from the traditional perspective of providing a narrative of evencs. Instead, he adopts a broad-based and novel inquiry grounded in the historical problem-oriented approach outlined by Francois Furet. ... He demonstrates that convergence and identification with the European project have occurred in a limited and conditional manner-insights that critically shape our understanding of member state behavior and policymaking. ... Highly Recommended. * A.E. Wohlers, CHOICE *
Now is a good time to re-examine why Europeans chose to 'integrate' their continent, to what extent the unique combination of factors that characterised the immediate post-war decades influenced that choice, and whether Europeans have the wherewithal to remain united in light of changing circumstances. These questions force us to consider whether 'Europeans' truly constitute a political community and whether their ties are strong enough to provide a sense of collective agency in a more hostile world. Mark Hewitson's European Integration Since the 1920s: Security, Identity, and Cooperation is a great source for answering these questions. He weaves together ideas, documentary evidence, statistics and analytical theorising of the kind usually employed in political science into a unique causal history. * Erik Jones, Survival *
This is a very well-informed overview, largely based on the latest research. Hewitson is an expert on the history of integration and offers some original interpretations in this book. The close interweaving of historical and social science research is another strength. * Guido Thiemeyer, German Historical Institute London Bulletin *
ISBN: 9780198915942
Dimensions: 240mm x 165mm x 34mm
Weight: 1020g
544 pages