European diversity

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European diversity

• Sander van der Leeuw
• School of Human Evolution and Social Change
• Arizona State University

10/19/07
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Europes diversity in 1519
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Europes unity in 2006
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Different histories

• Much of the basic structure of Europe harks back
  to the Roman Empire and beyond
• The Dark Ages saw a decrease in structuration
  down to the village level
• From the 11th century, a slow, bottom-up,
  restructuration
• Different in different parts of the continent
• France vs. Britain (1100s to 1700s) did the
  state create the nation or vv?
• Netherlands and Iberia (1400s and 1500s) the
  role of the trade Empires
• Germany and Italy very late unification
  (1850s-1870s) under pressure from the top
  (Bismarck) and the bottom (Garibaldi and Cavour)
• Southeastern Europe under the Turks until 1917
• Belgium (created 1815) is still not sure

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Fifty years of European Integration

• Began just after WWII
• ECSC Treaty (1951)
• Euratom Treaty (1957)
• EEC Treaty (1957) six nations
• Single European Act (1986) twelve nations
• Maastricht Treaty on European Union (1992)
• 1995 fifteen nations
• Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
• Treaty of Nice (2001)
• 2004 ten new nations in C and E Europe
• Failed attempt at new constitution (2005)

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Some statistics
Area 23 million km2 (8 876 000 mi2) Population
728 million Languages English, French, German,
Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Irish,
Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic,
Czech, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian,
Bulgarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Lettonian,
Estonian, Russian, Basque, etc. Legal systems
Anglo-Saxon, Napoleonic, German Wealth
differentials Per capita GNP varies between
 18,000 (Czech republic) and 60,000 (Luxemburg
and Ireland), with most countries between
22,000 (Greece) and  32,000 (Ireland)
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A huge enterprise

• Comparable to the unification of the US, except
  that the latter was relatively under-populated at
  the time
• Conceived by visionary leaders, who had little
  idea of the changes for the average European
• Some positive effects
• Peace
• Tourism
• Economic reconfiguration
• Reconstitution of political power
• Some negative effects
• Political reconfiguration (large and small
  nations, regions)
• Bureaucratization EU as the big bad wolf
• Role of agriculture
• Knowledge gap

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Europeanizing the scientific community

• Since the mid-1980s a concerted attempt at
  transforming science
• Mobility, building of research networks,
  strengthening, creating complementarities
• Leveling out the playing field between Western
  Europe and the rest, to engage a larger community
• Series of Research and Technology Development
  programs (7 to date over some 25 years)
• Industry driven, focused on specific actions
  negotiated between the nations
• New class of scientists born
• Currently first attempt at blue skies research
  (ERC)

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A crucial role for social sciences

• The need to better understand what happens
  socially
• Europe is only just awakening to that need
• Shock of the failed constitution
• Research Framework plans 6 and 7 begin to give it
  a place
• Each country its own tradition, organization,
  questions, language
• Three main actors institutions, communities,
  funders

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Institutions

• Universities, Research Organizations, National
  Academies, NGOs, Industry-related
• Different objectives, constraints,
  decision-making, customs
• Examples France, UK, Netherlands, Germany, E.
  Europe
• Centralization vs. independence of institutions
• Facilities long under-funded, but change in
  pipeline
• MSH, Data-Networks, Centers for Advanced Study
• Problems with SS data access, comparability,
  language
• Economics the main exception

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Communities

• Individual versus group research
• No sense of community, even nationally
• Long period of no-win territorial battles
• Language barriers go deeper than in natural and
  life sciences
• SS born in many cases in nationalist context
• Focused on national issues and questions
• Different balance between universal and
  plural
• Difficult to translate and transpose
• Political barriers do not simplify life

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Funders

• Different in each country, plus EU level
• Most funding is public in one way or another
• Spread role of Foundations very uneven, but
  generally less than US
• Problem with diversity of sources
• Control over funding National vs. European
• SS come in at a time when shift to National is
  occurring
• More territorial, more bureaucratic, more control
  of scientific establishment, less innovative and
  risk-taking

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Conclusion

• Diversity is a strength, but it is difficult to
  harness it
• The EU is slowly making a big difference
• The importance of institutional (vs. individual)
  networking
• US and EU are in different stages of their
  development
• EU more aware of need to share, to regulate, to
  organize
• This is more than politics and government
• Awareness of limits, need to live together,
  strength in association