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 politics, geography and identity by tracing the history of "Europe" as a political concept and the cultural, political and economic factors that have shaped modern European countries. 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 outlines the contemporary structures of the European Union and also investigates the various processes that have made Europe such a distinctive, dynamic and highly varied region. It also examines the historical roots of current tensions between - and within - the nation-states of Europe, such as ethnic nationalism, the legacy of imperialism and the politics of remembrance, and demonstrates how they continue to shape European politics today.
