Europe and the other and Europe as the other

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This book contributes to the debate on what Europe means by demonstrating the complexities and contradictions inherent in the concept. They are seen most clearly when Europe is viewed from a long historical perspective. During the closing decades of the twentieth century, Europe emerged as one of the main points of reference in both the cultural and political constructs of the global community. An obsession with the concept of European identity is readily discernible. This process of identity construction provokes critical questions which the book aims to address. At the same time, the book explores the opportunities offered by the concept of Europe to see how it may be used in the construction of the future. The approach is one of both deconstruction and reconstruction. The issue of Europe is closely related in the book to more general issues concerning the cultural construction of community. The book should therefore be seen as a companion to another work in the series Multiple Europes. The book appears within the framework of a research project on the cultural construction of community in modernization processes in comparison, a joint enterprise of the European University Institute in Florence and the Humboldt University in Berlin.