Understanding Europe: The Council for European Studies book series – serie

In 1969 a small group of US scholars began discussing the possibility of starting a consortium of Western European Studies programmes. Europe was increasingly becoming an object of study and it was felt that greater coordination of the intellectual effort would help avoid duplication and further the acceleration of research. So began the Council for European Studies.In commemoration of the founding of the Council fifty years ago, this volume brings together some of the most influential Europeanists writing today to take stock of the subject and to consider the most fruitful avenues for future research. With European democracy seemingly under threat from populism on the left and the right, the economies of countries still struggling to emerge from a decade of recession and stagnating growth, environmental concerns paramount and the quest for social cohesion a distant goal, the contributors to this volume bring their insight to bear on the fertile ground that the EU and the continent more broadly offer researchers.The contributors – drawn from 52 institutions across the globe – present a wide range of perspectives on Europe’s past and present, and the key challenges facing its future, such as immigration, multiculturalism, nationalism and integration. Although it remains to be seen whether Europeans will continue to promote the dream of union or whether they will retreat back into their nation states, these essays offer valuable insights into how Europe might respond and the changing nature of what it means to be a European.

In 1969 a small group of US scholars began discussing the possibility of starting a consortium of Western European Studies programmes. Europe was increasingly becoming an object of study and it was felt that greater coordination of the intellectual effort would help avoid duplication and further the acceleration of research. So began the Council for European Studies.In commemoration of the founding of the Council fifty years ago, this volume brings together some of the most influential Europeanists writing today to take stock of the subject and to consider the most fruitful avenues for future research. With European democracy seemingly under threat from populism on the left and the right, the economies of countries still struggling to emerge from a decade of recession and stagnating growth, environmental concerns paramount and the quest for social cohesion a distant goal, the contributors to this volume bring their insight to bear on the fertile ground that the EU and the continent more broadly offer researchers.The contributors – drawn from 52 institutions across the globe – present a wide range of perspectives on Europe’s past and present, and the key challenges facing its future, such as immigration, multiculturalism, nationalism and integration. Although it remains to be seen whether Europeans will continue to promote the dream of union or whether they will retreat back into their nation states, these essays offer valuable insights into how Europe might respond and the changing nature of what it means to be a European.

Competition between democratic and authoritarian systems is playing out in global cities, where real property rights influence regime legitimacy and economic performance. Two questions inspire debate.Why does the property-owning middle class, which was integral to democratic development in the West, support illiberal governments? Do differences between political systems affect the success of global cities? Marsha McGraw Olive unravels these questions by comparing urban land governance in Europe and Eurasia. Democracies largely, but not exclusively, perform better than hybrid or authoritarian regimes on real property rights, land-related regulations, and citizen engagement in urban planning. Case studies of Moscow and Istanbul show that urban real property is fundamental to regime stability, bringing wealth to average citizens and favoured elites. This formula, perfected by President Putin, bestows economic but not political benefits to middle-class property owners.The book argues that all cities need to improve land governance to cope with twenty-first century urban challenges. Cities that respect property rights and put citizens at the centre of urban planning achieve better outcomes. In contrast, illiberal leaders who rely on opaque property deals are inciting public backlash and slowing economic growth. In the global political competition, real property rights are a chink in the authoritarian armour.

The received wisdom in European integration history is that, long before the EU was plagued by Euroscepticism and other forms of contestation, there was a "permissive consensus" between European elites and the general public, which allowed European integration to move forward. This book looks beyond this presumed consensus, to ask how the members of European institutions themselves perceived and shaped their relations with European citizens during the early years of the European Communities.It does so from the perspective of the people who were responsible for representing citizens at the European level: the members of the European Parliament (which represented European citizens) and the Economic and Social Committee (which represented European organised interests). The book follows the first generation of these European representatives in building their institutions during the 1950s and 1960s. It shows that the European representatives sought to democratise the Communities, within the constraints of the legal and institutional framework that was created with the European treaties. In doing so, the book argues, they created new path dependencies and reaffirmed existing ones, but hardly challenged the status quo – characterised later with concepts like the permissive consensus and the democratic deficit. The book shows, then, that the European representatives’ ambition to democratise the European Communities from within has shaped European integration in ways that are not fully appreciated and understood by historians and political scientists.

In 2022, Georgia Meloni became Italy’s first female prime minister, after steering her party Fratelli D’Italia (Brothers of Italy) to victory and forming a right-wing coalition government. Meloni’s achievement is even more impressive when considered in the context of the 2018 election result, in which the party only garnered 4.3 per cent of the popular vote. This book charts the origin and evolution of Meloni and the Fratelli D’Italia within the context of the Italian party system, its organization, political elite, ideological positioning, policy proposals and voters’ profile. As the first radical right party to lead a government in Europe since the Second World War, FdI is under intense international scrutiny with a fascist revival feared exactly 100 years after Mussolini’s March on Rome. The plausibility of such fears is assessed as well as the complex conditions both within the party and the Italian political system that have culminated in Meloni’s premiership.

The narrative of postwar Germany’s moral and political dilemma, as a nation unwilling to assume a leadership role in the international community, despite its size and economic might, for fear of becoming dominant, is well rehearsed. Germany’s postwar power has been bounded by the rules and requirements of international institutions and its own constitution. Economic prosperity quickly became a proxy for the conventional exercise of power. Yet, recent crises have made the country’s ambivalence to power difficult to sustain. Scholz’s declaration of a Zeitenwende (end of an era) launched questions about Germany’s international role, not least in supporting Ukraine against a Russian aggressor.In this timely interrogation of the German state, Mark Vail traces Germany’s reluctant embrace of power from nineteenth-century industrialization and state formation to its current self-re-examination and reconsideration of national identity and international responsibility.

The resurgence of nationalism is one of the most significant developments in European politics over the past 25 years. Few countries have avoided it, with most experiencing a surge in support for parties that espouse anti-immigrant, anti-European Union and anti-globalization views. Led by populist-style leaders, their rhetoric has pervaded political discourse influencing mainstream parties and even, in some countries, gaining power and forming governments.This book brings together experts to analyse nine countries that contribute specific aspects to the study of nationalism in Europe. While the parties and movements considered in the chapters demonstrate significant variation, what binds them is a view that the nation, however defined, must be reasserted and that core policy issues and challenges should all be seen primarily through the lens of national sovereignty and solidarity. Together the essays offer fresh insights into nationalism’s resurgence and the nature of populist politics.

In this carefully argued case for a federal Europe, Céline Spector proposes that national sovereignty has become increasingly untenable as mechanisms perpetuating fiscal, social and environmental inequities transcend borders. Indeed, in the face of Russian aggression and America’s apparent retreat from its protective role, strengthening European integration has become essential and federalization appears increasingly necessary.Although the concept of the sovereign people has become symbolic within nation-states, Spector show that it has become devoid of substantive political force. Rather than lamenting the decline of direct democracy, she advocates for a democratized European Union that could redefine popular sovereignty and protect human rights. The transformation of state sovereignty need not signal democracy’s end or the subordination of politics to law. Instead, it could facilitate new forms of political community at the European level and enable a reconceptualization of popular sovereignty beyond the nation-state.

Constitutional ambiguity has been an important enabler of European integration. Achim Hurrelmann argues that although this can cause problems, it often remains the best option for holding the European Union together and has shaped how the EU has responded to its recent crises.This book reinterprets European integration using the concept of “constitutional abeyances” – originally developed by Michael Foley and not previously applied to the EU – which are unresolved issues that political elites avoid politicizing to prevent conflict. Hurrelmann shows that it is a concept that can help us better understand the EU: what it is, how it works, why it sometimes does not work, and how it responds when crises hit. He shows that, although these strategies may be criticized, they ultimately have contributed to the EU’s resilience in face of the crises over the euro, migration and rule of law.

Study of the European Union has largely focused on the institutional and policy instruments of the supranational organization that European states formed after the Second World War. With predominant narratives of peace and security within and between its members, Europe seeks to turn the page on its colonial past. This book brings a decolonial lens to the constellation of contemporary European power and delineates how the region’s colonial and racialized attitudes and approaches imbue the structures and policies of today’s Union. A mindset that informs both internal policies and institutions as well as interactions with former and currently colonized territories and their people.This is an essential resource for students of Europe, who want a critical, historically informed understanding of the role of colonialism and racism in the founding, development and future of the European Union.

Study of the European Union has largely focused on the institutional and policy instruments of the supranational organization that European states formed after the Second World War. With predominant narratives of peace and security within and between its members, Europe seeks to turn the page on its colonial past. This book brings a decolonial lens to the constellation of contemporary European power and delineates how the region’s colonial and racialized attitudes and approaches imbue the structures and policies of today’s Union. A mindset that informs both internal policies and institutions as well as interactions with former and currently colonized territories and their people.This is an essential resource for students of Europe, who want a critical, historically informed understanding of the role of colonialism and racism in the founding, development and future of the European Union.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 having become a drawn-out war of attrition, thoughts are turning to what will follow it. How will a lasting peace settlement be negotiated? Catherine Guisan considers what lessons can be learnt from the processes of peacebuilding in Europe since the Second World War. She examines three precedents of European peacemaking from the past century of conflict: the US Marshall Plan, the project of European integration and the processes that ended the Cold War. In so doing she reveals how the skills and initiatives that maintained peace have gradually become lost and what this means for future conflict resolution, especially peace in Ukraine.