Political History of European Integration
The aim of this course is to describe and study three main dimensions of the European integration process. First, the institutional and political one, between the end of the Second World War and Brexit. Secondly the Mediterranean aspect considering the original links with Africa, passing through the entering of Spain, Portugal and Greece into the EEC and the energy issues, till the complicated steps of the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean. And thirdly the cultural diplomacy dimension, in the attempt to consider in a realistic way difficulties and limits but also opportunities and potentialities of the so-called soft power and, at large, of a European foreign policy in the current multipolar world. By the end of the course, the student knows the main dimensions and events that have characterised the European integration process and is capable of critically assessing how is important to have a correct and multidimensional knowledge of the historical roots of the integration process for understanding today’s turning point of European Union.
Syllabus
Every class will be divided into two sessions. The first part will offer a general introduction of the planned theme through frontal lesson, while the second part will be based on the discussion and comments on historical documents (political leaders speeches, newspapers articles, institutional documents, etc..). During every class the teacher will provide documents and papers required for the following lesson.
Class 1
European integration: the roots during WWII and the American contribution
Class 2
Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer: the 1950 moment and the birth of ECSC
Class 3
The “struggle” for a European Defense Community
Class 4
From Messina to Rome, through Venice. The Italian contribution to the birth of EEC
Class 5
The Gaullist moment
Class 6
The Aja moment and the first crucial enlargement; the Euro-Arab dialogue
Class 7
Debates and power point presentations performed by students dealing with European Integration documents
Class 8
The Giscard-Schmidt moment
Class 9
A “socialist Europe” against a “liberal” one? The “short” Mitterrand’s moment and the “long” Delors leadership
Class 10
The “Fall” and its European implications
Class 11
The Maastricht moment and the Barcelona Process
Class 12
A constitutional dream? 2002-2005
Class 13
The road to 2004-2007 “reunion”: history and economy
Class 14
The roots of today’s crisis: euro, Brexit, migration and populism
Class 15
Debates and power point presentations performed by students dealing with European Integration documents
Readings
I.T. Berend, The Economics and Politics of European Integration: Populism, Nationalism and the History of EU, Routledge, 2020
I.T. Berend, From the Soviet Bloc to the European Union, Cambridge UP, 2009
I. T. Berend, Against European Integration: the European Union and its Discontents, Routledge, 2019
F. Bicchi, The Union for the Mediterranean, Routledge, 2012
L. Bonfreschi-G. Orsina-A. Varsori (eds.), European Parties and the European Integration Process, 1945-1992, Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2015
A.E. Gfeller, Building a European Identity, Berghahn Books, 2014
M. Gilbert, European integration a concise history, Rowman and Littlefield, 2011
W. Loth, Building Europe, a history of European Integration, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2015
P. Hansen-Jonsson, Eurafrica. The Untold History of European Integration and Colonialism, Bloomsbury, 2015
L. Mechi-G. Migani-F. Petrini (edds.), Networks of Global Governance, Cambridge Scholars, 2014
A. Milward, The European Rescue of the Nation State, London, Routledge, 2000
A. Moravcsik, The choice for Europe: social purpose and state power from Messina to Maastricht, London, UCL Press, 1998
K. K. Patel, Project Europe: A History, Cambridge UP, 2020
K. K. Patel-F. Romero-U. Krotz (eds.), Europe’s Cold War Relations: the EC Towards a Global Role, Bloomsbury Academic, 2019
L. van Middelaar, Le passage à l'Europe, Gallimard, 2012 (or english version The Passage to Europe, Yale UP, 2014)
L. van Middelaar, Alarums and Excursions. Improvising politics on the European Stage, Agenda Publishing, 2019
L. Warlouzet, Europe contre Europe. Entre liberté, solidarité et puissance, CNRS Editions, 2022
L. Warlouzet, Governing Europe in a Globalizing World, Routledge, 2018