LNDN3432: Western European Government and Politics

Where and what is Europe? Who are the Europeans? What is Europe’s future? „Europe‟ has been a cultural idea that European elites have struggled to impose on the chaotic diversity of their continent. How has the concept „European‟ been defined historically, and in relation to whom? This interdisciplinary course addresses these fundamental questions of geography, society and identity by tracing the history of „Europe‟ as a cultural and political idea and the cultural, political and economic factors that have shaped modern Europe. Such issues have been brought into close focus by the implications of European integration, destabilising assumptions about the territorial extent of Europe and the scales at which government, sovereignty, and citizenship should operate. This course investigates the various processes that have made Europe such a distinctive, dynamic, and highly varied region and examines the historical roots of current tensions between – and within - the nation-states of Europe, such as ethnic nationalism and imperial competition.

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