History of European Integration

Contenu du cours

This course offers an overview of the history of European construction.
It aims to provide basic historical knowledge on the challenges of European integration by embedding this history in a broader context.
The course begins with the legacies of World War I and ends with the Brexit debates.
It is obvious that choices will have to be made given the historical scope of the subject.
The course content therefore covers:
The historiography of European construction
The European idea in the interwar period
European myths
The dark years of the European project
The German problem and European reconstruction
1950s
The Gaullist challenge
The common agricultural policy
The social dimension of European construction
European integration from a British perspective

Objectifs (et/ou acquis d'apprentissages spécifiques)

The main objective of this course is to provide some historical foundations to understand and to examine the European Integration Process which would not be limited to an institutional process or to observe the integration of European societies disconnected from this process.

During the first lecture, a discussion will be organized in order to define the method of evaluation and its schedule.

In addition to the acquisition of basic knowledge relating to the major events that marked the history of European Integration, one of the main objectives is to break with a disembodied reading of this process and to link it to the transformations of the second half of the 20th century in Europe. It is an essential prerequisite for an interpretation of the theories of European construction and for the training of students destined for a professional career in European organizations and institutions. For all the students enrolled in this course, it also contributes to understanding today's Europe and to acquiring a true critical mind on the making of a historical narrative where hagiographies rub shoulders with multiple symbolic registers.

Pré-requis et Co-requis

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

General Knowledge in Contemporary History of the European Continent

Méthodes d'enseignement et activités d'apprentissages

Ex cathedra lectures and interactions with students.
Recorded Group Presentation of a poltical cartoon in its historical context

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

Kiran Patel, Project Europa, Cambridge, CUP, 2020

Support(s) de cours

Université virtuelle

Contribution au profil d'enseignement

The material taught for this course has a twofold purpose.

Firstly, I will try to explain the main steps of European integration and examining these stages in relation to international and national contexts. The subject must provide students an understanding of the history of European integration, associating the deep transformations of the European continent.

Secondly, the challenge of the course is to offer re-reading of this irremediably non-linear process. More than underlying the continuities of the integration process, it is important to highlight the ruptures or deadlocks which explain the state of the Union nowadays. As such, the concerns revealed during the Scottish referendum of 2014, the Brexit of June 23, 2016, the resistance to the economic reforms initiated in Greece or the current procrastination on the future of the Schengen Area do not fail to recall the inextricably conflictual process of European construction. These sudden stops of history and resistance to the integration process represent as many avenues of access to an alternative reading of events where local, national and European issues connect, in which economic, socio-cultural and political issues question the nature of the European project at different stages of its history.

Autres renseignements

Contacts

nicolas.verschueren@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

Examen écrit
Travail de groupe

Examen écrit

Question ouverte à développement long
Question ouverte à réponse courte

Travail de groupe

The idea is to organize oral examinations which are considered as a discussion and perhaps a continuity with the lectures.
Nevertheless, if there are too many students, I will have to switch to a written test.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

Written Test
General Knowledge on European Integration (20%)
Critical assessment and ability to develop his/her own observation on one aspect of the European Integration process (30%)
Question related to students presentations (20%)

Group Presentation
Recorded Group Presentation of a poltical cartoon in its historical context, the presentation should be upload on the UV in December (30%)

Langue(s) d'évaluation

anglais

Recherche