Concepts of Europe

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Concepts of Europe

• Lecture for Studying Social Life (2)
• Professor Claire Wallace

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Geographical Europe (Pan Europe)

• East and West Europe
• Eastern Europe formerly communist
• Now divided by CIS/New Member States
• Varying progress of reforms

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Example Ukraine

• Centre of Europe?
• East and West Ukraine
• Part of Austro-Hungary, part of Russian Empire
• Pro-Western and Pro-Russian parts
• Orange revolution 2004 (Yevchenko vs Yanukovich)
• Not part of EU but affected by EU policies
• Source of migrant workers

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The EU (Official Europe) Chronology of widening

• Started as coal and steel Union in 1950s with
  just 6 members
• Inspiration of Churchill/Schuman/Ardenauer/Monnet
  to avoid conflict in future
• 19772/3 Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined
• 1980s Portugal, Spain and Greece joined
• 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden joined
• 2004 Eastern European Enlargement (10 states)
• 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined
• Croatia? Macedonia? Turkey?

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Chronology of deepening

• Founding of European Economic Community in 1957
  (Treaty of Rome)
• 1986 Single European Act first step to single
  European market and Political Co-operation (EC)
• 1992 Maastricht Treaty established the European
  Union Justice and Home Affairs added and Common
  Forieng and security policy (EU)
• 1993 Copenhagen Agreement defined who was
  eligible to join.
• 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam to make EU more
  democratic
• 2002 Euro instituted
• 2001 Lisbon Agenda set up to make Europe most
  competitive economy in world but with equality
  and justice built in.
• Delors We have made Europe, now we need to make
  Europeans

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Civilisational Europe

• Roman Law and Greek democracy
• Music, Art, Cinema, Architecture (gothic,
  baroque, classical)
• European Cities (small, compact, good transport
  infrastructure)
• Religion Roman Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant/Musl
  im/Jewish
• European values individualism, equality and
  social solidarity (regulated capitalism)
• Intellectual movements (positivism, romanticism)
• Secularisation

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Social Europe

• European social model
• Social dialogue, industrial relations, strong
  role of Trade Unions. Regulation of the workplace
• Social welfare, social expenditure and transfers,
  smoothing out life course risks, comprehensive
  welfare states either existing or being
  introduced.
• Equality, commitment to gender equality,
  combating social exclusion, representation of
  minorities
• Environmentalism recycling, awareness of
  society-nature relationships, green lobby, public
  transport

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Eastern vs. Western Social Model

• Eastern Europe communist legacy control of
  economy and state paternalism
• Competing with the west
• Many things socialised (health, housing,
  education etc.) form of modernisation
• Rapid urbanisation and creation of industrial
  working class but no negotiating power

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Supranational Europe

• Eroded authority of nation states
• Evolution of co-operation with continual crises
• Various things can only be tackled at supra
  national level (crime, migration, environment)
• Post-national identity?
• Cosmopolitan identity?

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Conclusions and summary

• Concepts of Europe
• Geographical (Pan-Europe)
• EU (Official Europe)
• Civilisational
• Social Europe
• Supranational Europe