Rethinking European integration history in light of capitalism: the case of the long 1970s

Aurélie Andry, Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol, Haakon A. Ikonomou, Quentin Jouan

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This introduction outlines the possibilities and perspectives of an intertwining between European integration history and the history of capitalism. Although debates on capitalism have been making a comeback since the 2008 crisis, to date the concept of capitalism remains almost completely avoided by historians of European integration. This introduction thus conceptualizes ‘capitalism’ as a useful analytical tool that should be used by historians of European integration and proposes three major approaches for them to do so: first, by bringing the question of social conflict, integral to the concept of capitalism, into European integration history; second, by better conceptualizing the link between European governance, Europeanization and the globalization of capitalism; and thirdly by investigating the economic, political and ideological models or doctrines that underlie European cooperation, integration, policies and institutions. Finally, the introduction addresses the question of the analytical benefits of an encounter between capitalism and European integration history, focusing on the case of the 1970s. This allows us to qualify the idea of a clear-cut rupture, and better highlight how the shift of these years resulted from a complex bargaining that took place in part at the European level.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)553-572
    Number of pages20
    JournalEuropean Review of History
    Volume26
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 2019

    Funding

    This special issue is the outcome of a project entitled ‘Rethinking European Integration History in Times of Crisis’, which received the support of the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union (Project number 564757-EPP-1-2015-1-FR-EPPJMO-PROJECT). Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol is an economic historian and Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of A Europe Made of Money: the Emergence of the European Monetary System (Cornell University Press, 2012), has edited with Federico Romero International Summitry and Global Governance: the Rise of the G7 and the European Council (Routledge, 2014), and has published various articles in journals such as Business History, Cold War History, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies and West European Politics. Emmanuel is currently PI of the ‘EURECON: The Making of a Lopsided Union, Economic Integration in the European Economic Community 1957–1992ʹ project funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

    FundersFunder number
    Erasmus+
    European Commission564757-EPP-1-2015-1-FR-EPPJMO-PROJECT
    European Commission
    European Research Council

      Keywords

      • capitalism
      • crisis of the 1970s
      • European integration history
      • globalization
      • neoliberalism
      • social conflict

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