Imagining European Unity Since 1000 Ad

ISBN-13: 9781137480460 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 273 str.

Patrick Pasture

Opis

In 2012, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee conferred its most prestigious award to the EU. This book takes this prize as a starting point to review the association of Europe's quest for peace with plans and ideals about European unity, the oldest of which can be traced back as far back as the Middle Ages. But the call for unity was not only motivated by peace and prosperity. It was also, and surprisingly even up to the 1950s, grounded in a yearning to maintain Europe's colonial dominance in the world. Historical analysis additionally reveals a deep longing for homogeneity and an abhorrence of diversity, rooted in the early history of Western Christendom.

This book does not tell the usual story of a growing European self-consciousness. Instead, it offers a multifaceted history that takes in account the ambivalences and divergences of the European imagination in a global context.

Recenzje

"Its critical meta-narrative stressing the dark sides and shortcomings attending the imaginings of European unity appears both timely and empirically sound. ... this book without doubt not only sets new accents for European studies but also qualifies as an introductory textbook for students." (Florian Greiner, European History Quarterly, Vol. 48 (1), 2018)

"A strikingly rich and nuanced picture of the political and intellectual historical pedigree of European integration ... ." (R. Lesaffer, American Historical Review, February, 2017)

"It brilliantly shows that, beyond irenic discourses which present Europe as a land of freedom, tolerance, and diversity, there is another reality and another history of violence, exclusion, and obsession with uniformity" (Carl Bouchard, Peace & Change, Vol. 42 (1), January, 2017)

"Historians have rarely offered such a well-balanced and well informed history of (Anti-)Europeanism ... ." (Peter Pichler, History, Vol. 102 (349), January, 2017)
"It is learned, impressively so, without being boring for even a single page, and it is subversive since it shows the dark sides of the noble quest for peace - an inbuilt tendency of the integration project to suppress diversity and to dominate. The current circumstance of Europe gives it a particularly sharp edge". (J. H. H. Weiler, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 28 (1), 2017)
"The period of time covered is, certainly, wide and multifaceted, and the nine chapters that make up the book are densely filled with historical details and information. ... Imagining European Unity since 1000 AC encourages a reflection on the lessons from the past, illuminating the understanding of the present." (Marta Postigo Asenjo, Global Intellectual History, Vol. 1 (2), 2017)

"Pasture's complex analysis works against the historiographic grain for studies on Europeans search for unity. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper division undergraduates and above." (P. G. Wallace, Choice, December, 2015)

Spis treści

1. 'Peace for our time': The European Quest for Peace 2. Peace in Christendom? 3. Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Evaporating Dream of a Perpetual Peace 4. Peace during the Concert 5. Between Empire, Market and Nation 6. The Long War 7. Hope and Deception 8. Pacification by Division 9. Epilogue: The EC's Colonial Empire

O autorze

Patrick Pasture is Professor of History and Director of the Master Programme in European Studies: Transnational and Global Perspectives at the University of Leuven, Belgium.