The European Union

Elective Course

The aim of this subject is to enable students to understand the project of European unification. A bold political experiment, the European Union transformed Europe and the key concepts that came to define politics more generally, such as sovereignty and nation-state. Drawing on different disciplinary perspectives, including history, political science and sociology, we will study the emergence of the project after the devastation of the Second World War and examine decisive turning points, such as the 1989 collapse of communism. We will raise questions about the EU’s ability to deliver on its key promise: safeguarding peace and democracy in Europe. Discussing a number of recent challenges – eurozone crisis, refugee crisis and the crisis of EU-Russia relationship – we will ask whether the EU can be viewed as a successful example of governance beyond the nation state.