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This book presents a cultural history of European integration. It revisits the European Community's postwar origins through the lens of symbolic representation and so reveals a hitherto unknown side to Europe's notorious technocrats. They were not simply administrators: they were skillful marketing experts, clever spin doctors, and talented stage directors. After all, what made the European Community stand out among the multitude of postwar European organizations? This book argues that it was not so much its vaunted supranationalism, nor its economic significance; it was its self-proclaimed role as torchbearer of European unity.
Combining archival research with media analysis, The Symbolic Politics of European Integration reviews Europe's early parliaments, its early diplomacy, and its long search for "capital cities," from Strasbourg to Brussels. It tells the story of the political theater that staged an enterprise of technocrats as the embodiment of a Europe united in peace and prosperity. This book is an invaluable resource for historians of postwar Europe, as well as for analysts of today's EU, who seek to understand how coal, steel, and tariffs became the stuff the European dream was made of.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- Part I. A Parliament for Europe.- 2. From Consultative Assembly to Sovereign Parliament.- 3. Europe's Self-Proclaimed Constituante.- 4. On the Community Stage.- Part II. Europe on the World Stage.- 5. Statesmen Made in Washington.- 6. At Europe's Court.- 7. Ambassadors from Europe?.- Part III. A Capital for Europe.- 8. A Provincial Center.- 9. Balance or Supremacy?.- Conclusions.
About the author
Jacob Krumrey is a former Doctoral Researcher in the Department of History and Civilization at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. He currently works as a political advisor in Germany.
Summary
Draws on diplomatic records, media coverage, and the personal papers of key diplomacy actors
Offers insights in to the media coverage, marketing techniques, and political theater of European statesmen and diplomats
Analyses the three main aspects of the European Community’s political theater: its parliament, its diplomacy, and its seat
