HHIA03711U HIS/CEMES, The History of the European Union, 1945 to 2013

The History of the European Union, 1945 to 2013
Contemporary Europe is currently in its deepest economic and political crisis since the 1930s. The European Union (EU) we have learned to take for granted is crumbling. Tracing the history of European integration since the Second World War, we shall explore the multiple roots of the contemporary EU. Since 1945, European integration has been central to the reconstruction of the European continent. These processes have fundamentally reshaped the European state system, and brought peace, economic growth and stability. However, did European integration also bear the seeds of its own destruction? The lack of popular legitimacy, the complex and inefficient institutional system, the capitalist and neoliberal market orientation have all contributed to the current situation.

To understand the multiple roots, successes and limitations of the current EU, this course will discuss European integration in connection with other broad historical developments, such as postwar reconstruction, the Cold War, de-colonization, the emergence of neoliberalism and globalization. This course intends to offer students the historical insight and analytical tools to better understand the crisis of Europe.

Course objectives (clarification of some of the objectives stipulated in the curriculum):
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